Robert Downey Jr.’s son arrested for cocaine possession

Actor Robert Downey Jr. has thanked authorities for arresting his son on suspicion of cocaine possession.

Indio Falconer Downey was arrested on Sunday afternoon after being pulled over for a routine traffic stop at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. An L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy conducted a search of the vehicle after seeing that Falconer Downey was smoking a pipe in the passenger’s seat.

After finding the guitarist with cocaine, Falconer Downey was arrested and taken to a local police station. Two other people were in the vehicle, but only Falconer Downey was arrested.

Read: Drug abuse in teens

This isn’t the first time Falconer Downey has experimented with drugs. In October 2013, he entered a rehab for pill addiction, as his mother, actress and singer Deborah Falconer, sought to break her son’s habit, which was most likely inherited from his father.

Robert Downey Jr.’s struggles with drug addiction were well known throughout the 1980s and 90s. In 1997, he was jailed for four months after he missed a court-ordered drug test; in 1999, he missed another required drug test and was sentenced to spend a year in California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison.

During a court hearing in 1999, Downey Jr. told a judge that he had been addicted to drugs since he was eight-years-old. His father, a fellow drug addict, began supplying him with marijuana as a child, and in a 1988 interview, Downey Jr. claimed that pot and cocaine were always around his house. The only way his father knew how to express his love was through drugs, said Downey Jr. during the interview.

Read: Prescription drug abuse growing

Falconer married Downey Jr. in 1992, only 42 days after their first date, and their son, Indio Falconer Downey, was born Sept. 1993. Falconer Downey grew up during the height of his father’s drug abuse. Falconer and Downey Jr. were married for nearly 12 years, but Downey Jr.’s frequent trips to rehab and jail took a toll on his marriage; the couple split in 2001 and eventually divorced in 2004.

In Nov. 2003, Downey Jr. proposed to Susan Levin, the producer of his film Gothika. Levin agreed to marry Downey Jr. on the condition that he became sober for good.

That year, Downey Jr. started therapy, entering a 12-step program, began to meditate, and took up Wing Chun Kung Fu. In 2003, Downey Jr. had a life changing meal at a Burger King and got clean after throwing all of his drugs into an ocean.

Since then, Downey Jr. has been an activist and supporter for those struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.

Read: Drug abuse in the genes

“Unfortunately there’s a genetic component to addiction and Indio has likely inherited it,” said Robert Downey Jr. in a statement released by his representatives. “Also, there is a lot of family support and understanding, and we’re all determined to rally behind him and help him become the man he’s capable of being. We’re grateful to the Sheriff’s department for their intervention, and believe Indio can be another recovery success story instead of a cautionary tale.”

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, drug addiction is heavily influenced by genetics and family history, and according to the National Institutes of Health, cocaine has an extremely high heredity factor compared to other drugs.