Truth About Drugs - Friends of Narconcon

Stealthy Methods Teens Use to Hide their Drugs

a teen's bedroom

 

Both parents and educators are often challenged with determining whether a teen is using drugs.  With the widespread availability and abuse of prescription drugs and now heroin, today it is more critical than ever to know if a young person is involved in substance abuse.  Intervening is sometimes a matter of life or death.

 

Teachers and educators may not have access to a student’s belongings, but this information could be helpful in discussing with a parent whose child you suspect may be using.

Inventive Ways Drugs May Be Stashed

As a parent, if you’ve ever suspected one of your children may be using drugs, you likely have tried going through their pockets and their backpacks for marijuana, pills, or other drugs. Yet any teen who wants to hide drugs can find ways hide them so well that a concerned parent will not be able to find them.

 

Most young people have unlimited access to the internet and here they can find detailed instructions on how to hide drugs (or anything else) in places parents or other adults are unlikely to ever check. There are a number of forums online dedicated to drug use and it is these sites where suggestions and instructions can be found.

 

book used to conceal drugs

 

Here are just a few of the hiding places suggested by these sites:

  • Inside a dried-out marker or highlighter. Just cut out the foam and replace with drugs.
  • Inside electronic devices like computer cases, speakers, game devices.
  • Inside a stick deodorant case, lip balm case or other similar item.
  • An old iPod hollowed out and filled up.
  • Inside a disposable lighter. Just pull off the plastic cover on the bottom.

 

In and around the home:

  • Above the ceiling, accessed through a bathroom vent.
  • Inside air conditioner ducts.
  • Buried in the backyard.
  • Behind a plate covering a light switch or electrical outlet.
  • Inside a mattress through a seam that has been discreetly cut open

Specially Made Items Designed for Concealment

There’s even specially made underwear with a zipper pocket for concealing anything from drugs to cash. One person advised others trying to smuggle drugs into drug-free music festivals that this underwear was his usual solution. Pre-hollowed lighters for drug storage (that will still light a cigarette or joint) can be purchased on Amazon.com, along with hollowed pens, hairbrushes, car cigarette lighters and even brand name water bottles that allow you to hide drugs under the section covered by the label. Just go to Amazon.com and type in “diversion.” You’ll find more than a thousand results for concealment. Some may be designed to hide other items such cash or firearms, but any of them can be used to conceal drugs.

 

Something as innocent looking as a metal travel mug could provide a hollow container for concealing enough drugs to get through the day. If this mug is carried into work or school, no one will even give it a second glance.

What Can You Do?

The first thing is to do your own research online and see what these forums, websites or videos are saying. Going to any search engine and typing in “where can I hide drugs from my parents” will provide plenty of results. The information in this article and what you find online will provide you with quite a list of possibilities.

 

If you’re an educator, you need to follow the policy and procedures at your school in regards to suspicion that a student has brought drugs on to the school property, or simply that you suspect they are using and are likely hiding them outside of school. In order to proceed, you will likely need to have a conference with the parents.  Here you can share this information with them to help discover if their child is using drugs and hiding in their possessions or in the home.

 

A few years ago an Akron, Ohio newspaper reported on a display offered by a local children’s hospital that teaches professionals in the area to identify hiding places in a child’s room: The educational display recreates a typical teenager’s bedroom and then invites parents and professionals to find the concealed items. This educational opportunity is often offered by anti-drug coalitions and law enforcement groups around the country.

 

The best solution is to help young people leave drugs behind. If they are only at the experimental stage and are not heavily addicted, hard-hitting education that communicates to them at their level may be enough to result in their decision to quit.  Over the years, Narconon staff have talked with many high school students following our drug education program who stated firmly that they finally understood what drugs really do to a person and no longer would be using them.  Written surveys of our presentations have shown a high percentage of similar remarks. The Narconon drug education video curriculum is a science-based NREPP reviewed program that has shown to reduce drug use amongst students.

 

Our biggest weapon in fighting drug abuse is education.  Only by decreasing the demand and removing customers from the market can we truly turn the tide on a broad scale. For four decades Narconon has delivered it’s very effective educational programs to millions of young people.  Each day, group by group, we know that the one child who has been steered away from drug abuse may be another life saved.