Robert Downey Jr. Busted for Drugs Again

The well-known actor, who has battled drug problems and arrests since 1996, was arrested in his Palm Springs hotel room late Saturday. Police report that they found cocaine and amphetamines in the room and that Downey offered no resistance. Ralph Landry, a Palm Springs police officer, reported that "He was conscious, and conversed with the officers. He was cooperative." Downey was released on $15,000 bail yesterday, but was charged with drug possession, being under the influence of a controlled substance, and committing a felony while free on bail.

Downey had been arrested in the summer of 1999 and sentenced to three years in August of that year for violating his probation and skipping his scheduled drug tests. The actor's first brush with the law for drugs came in 1996, when he was stopped for speeding and police found cocaine and heroine in his car. After that, and in short order, Downey was found passed out at a neighbors home and then busted for "escaping" from a drug rehabilitation center.

It is very likely that the troubled actor will be sent back to jail for violating his recently granted parole. The problems couldn't come at a worse time for Downey, who was getting his career back on track with a role on the hit television show "Ally McBeal." He was also planning to star in an L.A. production of "Hamlet," which is to be directed by Mel Gibson.

Downey is best know for his work in various films, including "Chaplin," for which he received an Oscar nomination, "Less than Zero," "Natural Born Killers," and "Two Girls and a Guy." The actor had once been quoted in court as saying that his addiction is "like I've got a shotgun in my mouth, with my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of gun metal."