Some families seem bred for public service. The Kennedy clan is a good example. Others seem born to tan, like the Hamiltons. The O'Neal family, however, seems born to burn ... and inhale the fumes deeply.

Tatum, Griffin, Redmond ... the O'Neal siblings have seen their share of the high life and its lows. Perhaps it's something in the blood. It's long been said that addiction can be hereditary. Ryan and his children seem living proof of this fact.

Last week the LA District Attorney brought felony charges against Ryan and his son, Redmond, for possession of methamphetamine found in a routine probation search of their house. Um, if you know you're on probation and they can search your house at any time, wouldn't it be wiser to hide your drugs at someone else's house? Then again, if you only hang out with other junkies, that wouldn't work; they'd just use up your stash before dipping into their own.

Ryan O'Neal can rant and rave all he wants about the unfairness of these charges, but it's long been rumored that he drugs it up with any and all takers. And that's one of the nicer things I've heard about his take on paternal responsibility. Good role model he's not. That's a given. This family seems cursed by their predilection for ossification, and God help anyone who stands in their way. The LA Sheriffs had to have some cause for wanting to search the house the day they found the drugs - was Redmond high in court again? Only two weeks before the judge said he was willing to drop all charges if Redmond went to a two-week rehab program. Guess that didn't work out. Maybe Dad kept bugging him for phone numbers.

The most curious aspect of this whole ugly ordeal is that Farrah Fawcett, Ryan's longtime and long-suffering lover, was present in the house and sleeping at the time of the raid. If Ryan was implicated simply because he was there, why was she not? After everything she's been through in the last couple of years, this ugly and very public mess must be devastating to her. But I'm sure it never crossed Ryan's mind ... as he packed his little glass pipe and reached for the lighter. Something tells me we haven't heard the last of the O'Neals, at least as it relates to their partying ways.