'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.

“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.

None of the 15 reported drug overdoses in Grey-Bruce this month, died, but Beattie says she’s lost more than 20 friends to drug overdoses over the past several years, and doesn’t want to lose anymore.

This is why she and her mom are leading an event on International Overdose Awareness Day, August 31st in Hanover, one of many events taking place in Ontario, that day.

“In the five years that I’ve been clean, I have accomplished getting my high school diploma, I’ve got my driver’s licence, I finished one year of college, and am pursuing more education. I just want people who are struggling to know that you can step through to the other side,” says Beattie.

“I wish I had more answers. I wish I have more solutions. What I do have is interest and compassion,” says Plant.

For a list of International Overdose Awareness events in Grey-Bruce, including Hanover’s, you can visit the Overdose Awareness Facebook group and the Grey Bruce Public Health website.

Crosses honouring Hanover and area drug overdose victims in Hanover, Ont. on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)