Children of smokers are more likely to smoke themselves as well as use other types of legal and illicit drugs, Medical News Today reported Aug. 14.

"If your parents were smokers it is a double whammy, because you are more likely to use drugs in general and even more likely to smoke cigarettes," said study co-author Karl Hill of the University of Washington Social Development Research Group. "There is something about tobacco that if parents smoke, their kids are more likely to smoke. It may be that parents who smoke might leave cigarettes around where their children can see and get to them. Parents may not leave marijuana and alcohol around in the same way."

The study also found that parents who use marijuana or drink heavily are more likely to have children who do the same. Children of smokers, heavy drinkers, and marijuana users also are more likely to have behavioral problems.

Researchers studied data on parents and elementary-school children who have been tracked since 1985.

The research was published in the August 2006 issue of the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.