As a cofounder of NACoA, I had my own childhood experiences with an alcoholic father. Times have changed; today, opiates, methamphetamine, and cannabis are more common and polysubstance use is the norm. Despite these vicissitudes, the impact of parental addiction on children remains pretty much the same. From children’s perspectives, addiction is simply addiction—different drugs may have different characteristics, but the needs of children remain the same. What began in 1983 as the National Association for Children of Alcoholics has now broadened its mission to raise awareness of the effects all drug addiction has on children.
About Me
Timmen L Cermak, MD, is the cofounder of NACoA and the past president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM). Dr. Cermak is also the author of From Bud to Brain: A Psychiatrist’s View of Marijuana (Cambridge University Press, May 2020).