The government should do more to help young children stop smoking in order to prevent them going on to abuse alcohol and drugs, doctors said yesterday.

The call came after doctors at the British Medical Association's public health conference in London backed a motion criticising the government's drugs and alcohol strategies for failing to make the links between children smoking and drug and alcohol addiction in later life.

Vasco Fernandes, consultant physician in substance misuse at Milton Keynes primary care trust, told SocietyGuardian.co.uk that an overarching strategy was needed to reduce ill health caused by tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs.

Dr Fernandes said there was strong evidence that young smokers were more likely to develop alcohol and drug problems, but existing government plans did not enable such substance misuse to be prevented.

She said an overarching strategy, replacing separate ones intended to reduce harm from abuse of illegal drugs and alcohol, would enable local drug action teams and NHS smoking cessation services to target young smokers.

"There's a lot of strong evidence that smoking is a gateway to harder drugs," Dr Fernandes said. "Many heroin and cocaine users started on cigarettes before graduating to illegal drugs. We want to catch them early before their substance misuse becomes serious."