The mother of two young women who got hooked on hard drugs worries that gender is to blame for the roadblocks she encountered trying to get her daughters help.
Julia Dreger has three daughters and she never expected that her two youngest ones would become addicted to drugs.
"There are lots of people out there, especially mothers, who are suffering what I went through, who need help," said Dreger.
She tried everything to help her daughters Theresa and Colleen, but nothing seemed to work and she was sure both her daughters would die.
Both Theresa and Colleen slipped back into using drugs while waiting to get treatment.
Dreger encountered long waits trying to get her two daughters help. At one treatment centre, she was told the wait was three months.
The Addiction Foundation of Manitoba says right now there are 36 provincially-funded treatment beds for men in the province, while there are only 12 beds for women. The AFM admits the discrepancy is a problem.
Options are being looked at to increase the number of drug treatment beds for women in the province.
Dreger is happy officials recognize the need for more beds but says the government needs to act faster.
"There needs to be more beds. There needs to be a process," says Dreger.
Theresa eventually beat her addiction by leaving Winnipeg and the junkies she associated with, while Colleen got help at a facility called Tamarack but it cost about $4,500 because she didn't qualify for financial aid.
Dreger says she is grateful to all those who helped her daughters recover.
- with a report from CTV's Rachel Lagac�
Information on drug treatment services are available on the websites below:
Directory of Youth Addictions Services
Breaking the Chains of Addictions
Directory of Adult Addictions Services
