Hair brushes.  Highlighters.  Lipsticks.  

All everyday items that parents, teachers and health care providers expect to see in a student’s backpack. However, if they see these items in a place they don’t belong or if are suspicious about a youth’s behavior, they better think again, according to Sgt. Michael Powell of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Sgt. Powell, who spoke to nearly 100 Cleveland-area health care providers at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center’s annual Opioid Addiction Conference, is part of Operation Street Smart, a collaboration between D.A.R.E. and the Franklin County Sheriff’s office to educate parents, health care providers, teachers and others who work with youth on daily basis. Their goal is to teach adults the tricks and terms that youth are using to hide drug abuse and addiction.

Powell said a growing array of online items and those sold in local head shops are making it increasingly difficult for law enforcement and those working with youth to find drugs. Drugs are, quite simply, being hidden in plain sight.

For example, realistic-looking lipsticks and lint rollers can quickly be turned into a pipe to smoke marijuana and other drugs.  Hairbrushes, umbrellas and pom-poms with hollowed out ends and secret compartments are used to hide drugs, paraphernalia and liquor. The most unusual item Sgt. Powell has seen?  An ordinary-looking plastic lunch container with the classic peanut and butter jelly sandwich – except that sandwich opens with zippers inside to hide drugs.  All go undetected; unless we are aware they exist and pay attention.

Since 2002, Operation Street Smart has completed more than 2,000 information and training sessions funded by Franklin County and the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.  They work to inform adults who work with children what items are in the marketplace and what terms students are using, so they can more quickly identify, prevent and even stop drug use and addiction.

“If we’re doing a backpack search, a locker search or if we’re asking them to empty their pockets, we need to know what we’re looking at,” Sgt. Powell said.  “The biggest red flag is if you see something in a place where it doesn’t belong – like a highlighter in the glove compartment of a car – that’s when you better take a look and see if it is really what it is supposed to be.”

Adults also need to be aware of the secret words that youth use to openly talk with each other about drugs and drug use.  Phrases and words, such as “Chasing the Rainbow,”  “Riding the Elevator,” “Purple Haze” and “420” are red flags that a student may be experiencing a drug problem.  Sgt. Powell urges adults to stay on top of these code words so that they can be as informed as the youth.  To learn more about Operation Street Smart, read the group’s brochure here. 

The Opioid Addiction Conference was the second annual event for St. Vincent Charity, as a leader in addiction medicine, to help arm our community’s health care professionals with best practice treatments and current information to support their efforts in identifying and treating those with addiction or substance abuse. Other presenters included:  Dr. Ted Parran, assistant medical director of Rosary Hall, to discuss the neurobiology of addiction in the brain; Joyce Pleasant, outpatient counselor at Rosary Hall, to overview the challenges of counseling the chemically dependent ex-offender; and Greg McNeil, founder of Cover2 Resources, to highlight model programs to battle the opiate epidemic.

“In so many cases, our health care providers are our first line of defense in fighting the opioid epidemic, now considered the worst drug crisis in American history,” said Orlando Howard, manager of outpatient treatment services at Rosary Hall.  “As a leader in addiction medicine for the entire state of Ohio, we at St. Vincent are committed, through this seminar and other educational programs, to make sure we are sharing best practice information and current trends so providers do all they can to help in the battle against this deadly disease.”