How Canada’s Rehab Centres are Failing Drug Users

published on November 6, 2016 by Rachel Browne in VICE

Canadians are waiting months to get into government treatment centres, new data shows.

Even though she’s next on the list for a bed at one of Manitoba’s best mental health and drug treatment facilities, Destiny Bohemier has been waiting from a hospital in Brandon, Manitoba for more than 10 months. Her friends tried to crowdfund enough money to pay for a private facility that would let her in right away, but it was unsuccessful.

Bohemier has spent many of her 26 years addicted to drugs and suffers from psychological and eating disorders. She was admitted to the Brandon hospital after her latest suicide attempt. At the height of her addiction, she was buying fentanyl patches off the street; shooting and chewing them. Countless overdoses have almost killed her.

On methadone to curb her opioid cravings for a year now, Bohemier feels confident she can fully recover if she gets into the long-term residential program in Manitoba. “I’m hoping it will be the answer I’ve been waiting for,” Bohemier said over the phone from the hospital. 

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