'I’m not going back': Recovered drug addict shares support with users

Sasha Beattie says she did a lot of things she wasn’t proud of during her 13-year struggle with drugs. But, after finally kicked her addiction, five years ago, she tattooed ‘2%’ on her finger, because that’s the percentage of Ontario addicts who start recovery, and stay clean.

Sasha Beattie says she did a lot of things she wasn’t proud of during her 13-year struggle with drugs.

But, after finally kicked her addiction, five years ago, she tattooed ‘2%’ on her finger, because that’s the percentage of Ontario addicts who start recovery, and stay clean.

“I got it tattooed on my finger because I’m not going back. I will stay a part of that 2 per cent. If that number changes, great, but this is where I started,” says Beattie.

Beattie’s drug addiction was incredibly hard on her mother too, who thought her daughter hit rock bottom dozens of times, before she finally decided it was time to get clean.

“It’s probably the most helpless feeling for a parent, anyone can have,” says Hanover native Jane Plant.

Plant and Beattie are now making it their mission to try and raise awareness and remove the stigma surrounding drug addiction, a problem that’s reached a climax in Grey-Bruce, with three Opiod Overdose Alerts in August, following a total of 15 reported drug overdoses.

“This crisis isn’t getting smaller, it’s getting larger, we’re losing more people,” says Plant.