A local mom says her daughter has had a remarkable journey.

Kim Koop says after being diagnosed with a learning disability, being bullied in school, cutting, and even attempting suicide her daughter Madison started experimenting with drugs at the age of 15, just as she was heading into Grade 10. Koop says her daughter started by smoking marijuana and was soon going to parties where she would take Molly, Ecstasy, and cocaine.

"With pot, pot you can smell. We would confiscate so much in the house. Her eyes were kind of blood-shot, pupils dilated, you can pretty much tell. They just kind of want to sleep, but they're still there. With the Molly and Ecstasy, she would just have a lot of energy but she was still able to hold a conversation, be reasonable."

She notes Madison graduated from the Steinbach Regional Secondary School in June 2015 and by April 2016 she started using crystal meth.

Koop says what got Madison hooked on crystal meth was the Molly or Ecstasy pills she was taking were laced with meth. She explains when her daughter was smoking marijuana or taking pills it was possible to have a conversation with her and she was somewhat reasonable, but meth changed her daughter into a completely different person.

"It's like somebody else comes into her body. With Madison; aggression, she started carrying a knife in her bra, she would never carry anything like that and a lot of them do. They walk around with backpacks, all their belongings are in a backpack. She would sit for an hour just picking at her cell phone and trying to take it apart, not being able to do anything else. They can't hold jobs."

She notes Madison was also easily angered during this time and she would punch holes in the walls or throw things. Koops adds her daughter would also hallucinate and think there were people watching her.

"At one point I took her to a cabin and I was going to try and take her away for a month, we'll detox her until she has her senses a little more clear, then maybe she'll be more receptive to going for help. We get to this cabin and she's like 'mom, don't go into that shed, someone is going to kill you.' There were wall hangings and if it was a face she'd say the face was moving."

Koop says Madison started using crystal meth in April 2016 and she was arrested for the last time in September 2016 at the age of 19.

"She used meth for about six months. She's about 110 pounds but when she was arrested she was down to 76 pounds. They assessed her in jail and she was within a week or two of having a [tracheal tube] put in her throat. She wasn't eating or drinking anymore and that was from smoking the meth, from inhaling it, it was doing a chemical burn in her throat."

She explains at this point Madison needed bail, but she and her husband decided their daughter needed to be held somewhere to detox and so Madison spent the next five months at the Headingley Women's Correctional Centre.

In January 2017, Koop says her daughter was being disrespectful in jail and was segregated and stripped of everything but the clothes on her back.

"Even the toilet paper. They said, if you need toilet paper, you can ask us and we'll tell you how many strips you can have."

She says one day the cart with books came by and Madison requested a Bible noting later on after she was able to return to her cell with her cellmates, the Chaplin delivered a Bible and she decided to become a Christian.

Koops explains there are two long-term recovery programs in Winnipeg and they were drawn to Adult and Teen Challenge and kept encouraging Madison to fill out an application, which she finally did.

"In January [2017], she had a moment or an event happened to her in jail where God really spoke to her and from that point on she said yes, I want to go to Adult and Teen Challenge. God was waiting for that moment because within 30-days she walked through the doors of Adult and Teen Challenge, February 13, 2017."

She says she tries to remember to take things one day at a time with Madison because you never know what tomorrow may bring. Koop adds Madison's plan is to graduate from Adult and Teen Challenge in April, stay on for the summer months, and then go to Bible school in the fall and eventually go into youth ministry.

Koop notes drugs are everywhere, in every community. She says there are stats showing the majority of drug abuse starts between the ages of 15 and 24. As a parent who has seen her child live through drug abuse and recovery, she says, "for parents out there, just to know that you're not alone if you're facing these challenges. There are others of us out there that have walked this path. We wish it wasn't us, but it can happen to anybody."

She says for both parents and teens what she would really like everyone to know is that it's okay to talk about it.

"The more we talk about the subject, the more we talk about drugs and addiction, that it's okay to talk about it, it's not shameful, it's not disgraceful. These are all still human beings and our children and we want the best life for them."

As the Canadian government plans to legalize marijuana this year, Koop says her opinion is that it shouldn't happen.

"I think it's a gateway drug. There are statistics out there that we've known this is coming for the last five years and gangs have changed selling marijuana because they knew it was becoming legalized, they're pushing crystal meth. So, if you want to know why crystal meth is increasing, it has to do with the legalization of marijuana."

Koop says it appears the legalization is happening for two reasons; number one, the money it will generate for the governments, and number two, the government feels it will be safer if they're watching how cannabis is being distributed, which she agrees is not a bad thing.

"If they would put all that money they're going to be receiving from the legalization of marijuana into drug rehab, long-term drug facilities, change a hospital into a drug facility where people can detox safely, access mental health, access psychologists or psychiatrists. Most of them have some kind of anxiety or depression."

She adds the legalization of marijuana is going to happen, and using the money generated to aid in drug rehab would be positive.

Madison Koop spoke at a parent informational night on Wednesday called 'Time To Stir The Pot'. The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba was also present and spoke and answered questions from parents.

Read More: "The Primary Drug That Adolescents Come To See Me For Help With Is Cannabis"