A man marveled as he flipped through a novel only to find small sheets of smoking paper hidden among the pages.
“What is that?! They really hide that there?” he said, of the sheets commonly used to roll marijuana cigarettes.
For the evening, the auditorium stage at Hermitage High School had been outfitted to resemble a teenager’s bedroom, with a bed, bookshelf, nightstand and computer desk. The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office was hosting Hidden in Plain Sight, a free program held in partnership with Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS) to help parents and guardians recognize signs of drinking and drug use by youth.
The half-dozen participants were encouraged to examine the room and assess their own knowledge of illicit substances, for example, by digging through a snack bin to separate THC gummies from candy and checking the prescription label on a pill bottle for opioids.
Mark Grubbs, a parent, said he was surprised that so many of these items can be easily purchased at gas stations or online. “It’s quite amazing to me that the laws have changed like they have, and yet all this stuff is really dangerous,” he said. “It motivates me to be a little bit more proactive in the civil sphere.”
Laura Hollowell, an assistant principal at Hermitage, said she worries that many parents think their children will never experiment with drugs or alcohol but reminds them that young people have access and are influenced by friends and social media.
“Whatever’s in our community is going to make its way into our school building,” she said. “So we need for everyone to be aware of what’s happening outside of our school, because it’s going to end up inside of our school at some point.”
The Sheriff’s Office launched Hidden in Plain Sight in 2019 to educate community members about addiction, which is often a root cause of criminal behavior and an ongoing struggle for inmates in Henrico’s jails. Since the office began partnering with HCPS, Hidden in Plain Sight has grown to include support services for students and families, focusing on prevention for teens.
In recent years, the events have featured participants of the Sheriff’s Office’s ORBIT (Opiate Recovery Based on Intensive Tracking) program, a peer-run initiative that supports sobriety and recovery for people during and after incarceration. ORBIT members share their experiences to help parents understand what their youth might be faced with as well as how illicit substances might be creatively hidden.
Debbie Morton, an employee of the Sheriff’s Office who organizes Hidden in Plain Sight, said people who find sobriety in jail frequently share that their substance use started in middle or high school. “The unfortunate truth is that [teens] often lack the knowledge and experience to recognize the gravity of their choices until it’s too late,” she said.
For ORBIT participants, Hidden in Plain Sight offers an opportunity to help families of young people before they get into trouble or hurt themselves. It also helps those in recovery. “I keep coming back to work on events like these because I don’t want to be back in an [ORBIT] shirt,” a program graduate said.
After the group of parents had searched the mock bedroom for about a half hour, several items remained undiscovered. ORBIT participants revealed the hiding spots and items one by one – scale disguised as a computer mouse, an alcoholic drink with an unfamiliar brand, air fresheners and small holes in the bed sheets from cigarette burns.
Amber Harris, a peer advocate with the Henrico Division of Fire, said she feels honored in helping others find recovery, just as she did. She also wants to reach people before their problems escalate.
“I do think prevention is hugely important, because if we can stop these things from starting, it saves so much pain, tragedy and heartache,” she said.
The Henrico County Sheriff’s will present Hidden in Plain Sight at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15 at Glen Allen High School. Parents, guardians and others are welcome to attend this free event. Other resources include:
