U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a personal story of his own heroin addiction, spiritual awakening and recovery at a conference on drug addiction Thursday and emphasized that young people need a sense of purpose in their lives to prevent them from turning to drugs.Video above: FDA Approves Non-Opioid Painkiller, Offering Hope Amid U.S. Opioid CrisisKennedy called addiction 맥스카지노�a source of misery, but also a symptom of misery." In a speech that mentioned God more than 20 times, he pointed to his own experience feeling as though he had been born with a hole inside of himself that he needed to fill.맥스카지노�Every addict feels that way in one way or another 맥스카지노� that they have to fix what's wrong with them, and the only thing that works are drugs. And so threats that you might die, that you're going to ruin your life are completely meaningless,맥스카지노� he said.Speaking to about 3,000 people at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, Kennedy did not address recent budget and personnel cuts or agency reorganizations that many experts believe could jeopardize public health, including recent progress on overdose deaths.Kennedy drew cheers when he said that we need to do 맥스카지노�practical things맥스카지노� to help people with addictions, like providing them with Suboxone and methadone. He also said there should be rehabilitation facilities available for anyone who is ready to seek help. But he focused on the idea of prevention, signaling his view of addiction as a problem fueled by deteriorating family, community and spiritual life.맥스카지노�We have this whole generation of kids who맥스카지노�ve lost hope in their future,맥스카지노� he said. 맥스카지노�They맥스카지노�ve lost their ties to the community.맥스카지노�Kennedy said policy changes could help reestablish both of those things. Though Kennedy offered few concrete ideas, he recommended educating parents on the value of having meals without cellphones and providing opportunities for service for their children.The best way to overcome depression and hopelessness, he said, is to wake up each morning and pray 맥스카지노�please make me useful to another human being today.맥스카지노�He suggested that cellphones are a pernicious influence on young people and that banning them in schools could help decrease drug addiction. He cited a recent visit to a Virginia school that had banned cellphones, saying that grades were up, violence was down and kids were talking to one another in the cafeteria.Kennedy told attendees that he was addicted to heroin for 14 years, beginning when he was a teenager. During those years, he was constantly making promises to quit, both to himself and to his family.맥스카지노�I didn맥스카지노�t want to be someone who woke up every morning thinking about drugs," he said, noting that one of the worst parts of addiction was his total 맥스카지노�incapacity to keep contracts with myself."Kennedy said he eventually stumbled upon a book by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung that claimed people who believed in God got better faster and had more enduring recoveries, so he worked to rekindle his faith and started attending 12-step meetings.Kennedy was interrupted several times by hecklers shouting things like, 맥스카지노�Believe science!맥스카지노� He has been heavily criticized by scientists and public health experts for pushing fringe theories about diet, vaccines, measles and autism, among other things.One heckler was escorted out of the ballroom with a raised middle finger. Without responding directly to the hecklers, Kennedy said that he tries to learn from every interaction, even with people who give him the finger because they don't like his driving.맥스카지노�God talks to me most through those people,맥스카지노� he told the group.University of Washington researcher Caleb Banta-Green was among those escorted out after he stood up and shouted, "Believe science! Respect spirituality! Respect choice! Respect government workers!맥스카지노�맥스카지노�Spirituality is an essential part of recovery for some people; 12 step works great for the people it works for, however, it should never be mandated,맥스카지노� Banta-Green said in an email after the program.He added, 맥스카지노�We have decades of science-based interventions that are proven effective for supporting recovery and reducing death from substance use disorder. The problem we have is massive underfunding."___AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson in Washington state contributed.