DOUGLAS FEARS FAMILY ‘ADDICTION GENE’

Michael Douglas fears his teenage children will inherit the “addiction gene” he says he and members of his family have struggled with.

The actor, 74, has previously been to rehab for alcohol and drug addiction, his eldest son Cameron has battled a heroin addiction and his half-brother Eric Douglas died at 46 in 2004 from an accidental overdose.

In an interview with British newspaper The Mirror, Douglas, who shares son Dylan, 18, and daughter Carys, 15, with his wife of 18 years, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, 49, admitted he has “ongoing conversations” with his younger children about addiction.

“You have to be careful, so you learn about genetics,” he said. “It’s on both sides of my family — so with my younger ones, they keep a much closer eye on it.”

“I’ve taken blame about being a bad father — if being a bad father is working your butt off trying to create a career at one time,” he told Today in 2010.

“You finally end up with who you choose to hang out with. In Cameron’s position, he took a lot of low-lifes and he was a very attractive target to hang out with, and I don’t think that helped, either … I’m willing to take the hit.”