Robert Downey at the Toronto International Film Festival
Cast member and executive producer Robert Downey Jr. arrives at the gala for the film ''The Judge'' at the Toronto International Film Festival REUTERS

Actor Robert Downey Jr, 49, shares his family's addiction problems in the October edition of Vanity Fair magazine. The star of the Toronto Film Festival entry The Judge gives more details about his personal demons as the cover story of the publication.

The then 31-year-old actor was stopped by police for overspeeding in 1996 and was found to have heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and an unloaded .357 Magnum. He escaped twice for rehab and was sentenced in 1999 to 36 months jail term which he served for less than a year.

There were two more arrests. In 2000, an anonymous tip led to police recovery of cocaine and meth in his hotel room. In2001, Downey was found roaming Los Angeles streets barefoot, was arrested again and fired from Ally McBeal.

The actor's last arrest brought him back to rehab where he finally kicked his drug habit.

Looking back at those episodes, the actor told Vanity Fair, "Job one is get out of that cave. A lot of people do get out but never change. So the thing is to get out and recognize the significance of that aggressive denial of your fate, come through the crucible forged into a stronger metal. Or whatever. But I don't even know if that was my experience."

In June 2014, his 20-year-old oldest son Indio, a musician, with former wife Deborah Falconer was arrested for cocaine possession. The actor downplays the "genetic factor" that people may link Indio's drug habit, saying, "But that's typical in the Information Age; things get accelerated ... Pick a dysfunction and it's a family problem."

Now clean, Downey shared that his new addiction is the collection of cars, citing that he has a Bently, Porsche, Covette and Audis or a Honda Odyssey.

Celebrities like Downey are prone to drug addiction not only because they could afford the habit, but are often given the drugs for free just because they are celebrities. The Data Lounge Web site cited the case of actor John Belushi who died of speedball overdose when he was 33. Almost all the time, cocaine was given to him for free wherever Belushi went.

However, Dr Jason Jerry, director of the Cleveland Clinic, said that heroin use both in the entertainment industry and ordinary folks is an old story, citing that even in the 1950s, heroin use was common among many jazz musicians.

"Entertainers are just probably more in the spotlight than the rest of the population so we hear about it more," Jerry said.

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