Being able to recognize drug paraphernalia, concealment devices, or hiding places is as important as being able to recognize the drugs themselves or the symptoms of drug use in your child. While some pieces of paraphernalia such as syringes or pipes may catch your eye, other ones can be more difficult to spot, even hidden in plain sight. The same goes for concealment devices. It’s also important to remember that paraphernalia and concealment devices can be both professionally made or homemade/improvised. The professional items can easily be purchased online or from smoke shops.
This list is by no means exhaustive. We encourage you to get more familiar with the ways and places kids are hiding drugs and paraphernalia because it can be difficult to intervene in a problem if we can’t locate the source of the problem.
Wax pen used for vaping THC
Dab cartridges (THC)
“Wax” (THC)
Glass marijuana pipe
“One Hitter” marijuana pipe
Concealment water bottle
Concealment soda can
Fake lipstick pipe
Fake marker pipe
Watch vape
Improvised aluminum can pipe
Improvised aluminum foil pipe
Aluminum foil used to smoke tar heroin
Cut straws used for snorting powder or smoking tar heroin off of aluminum foil
Small resealable baggie – can be used for powders, pills, marijuana, etc.
Fake battery concealment device
Nitrous oxide cartridges AKA “Whip-Its”
Nitrous oxide cartridge and “cracker” used to fill balloons with nitrous oxide