Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/substance-abuse-rates-rise-in-women-over-past-two-decades Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript For decades, far more U.S. males than females have been substance abusers, but the gender gap is now shrinking. An encore report looks at the growing dependency in woman and the approaches to treat the problem. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. ACTORS (singing): Prescription drugs, don't abuse them. Do what your doctor says when you use them. SUSAN DENTZER: This puppet show warning about the dangers of substance abuse is nominally aimed at kids. ACTOR (singing): Your friends may try to tell you they're cool thing to use. They make you feel real funny, kind of like you're drinking booze. SUSAN DENTZER: But an equally important target audience is the mothers of these children. They're recovering drug and alcohol addicts, and they're slowly putting their lives back together here at Operation PAR.That's a Florida anti-substance-abuse program that treats 40,000 people a year and allows women who are enrolled to bring their kids along. WOMAN: One of the things about living life on life's terms is learning to be uncomfortable. SUSAN DENTZER: Those undergoing treatment here include moms like Niccole B., who's 27. She tested positive for cocaine use a year ago, when the youngest of her three children was born. NICCOLE B.: I was, like, I cannot believe that this happened to me, that I turned out to be a mother that put drugs first, instead of her kids.