From a very young age, Downey was dabbling in alcohol and THC — at the encouragement of his father. According to The Guardian, Robert Downey Sr. (pictured, right) once recalled telling his son, “You ought to try a little of this instead of drinking" and passing him a joint. “And suddenly I knew I had made a terrible, stupid mistake…giving a little kid a toke of grass just to be funny,” he added.
During his teenage years, Downey started taking harder drugs. In 2014, he told Vanity Fair that he likely inherited his addictions and in turn, passed them on to his oldest son, Indio Downey, a 20-year-old musician who had recently been charged with felony drug possession. “Pick a dysfunction and it's a family problem,” Downey said.