ARLINGTON – Ever wonder how your child might hide drugs from you at home?

Where would you look? A can of Coke? In the dirty laundry? Under the mattress? In a pencil box? In an e-cigarette? The answer is all five.

Andrea Conley of the Arlington Drug Awareness Coalition explained that at the “Not In My House” presentation at Weston High School Thursday night.

Stephanie Ambrose, school resource officer with Arlington police, said a goal of the event was to teach parents to be proactive.

“We’re spinning our wheels with treatment – reactive isn’t working,” Ambrose said, adding it’s important to stop kids before they start.

Another goal is raising awareness.

“I never thought my child would do this,” Ambrose said parents have told her time and time again.

Parents had the chance to talk with vendors who help people get off drugs and police, who brought the real thing for folks to see.

“That’s popular because they talk about what they are seeing in the community,” Conley said.

But what intrigued participants the most was bedrooms set up to look like a teen’s room.

“They tried to make them look as real as possible,” Conley said. “We can’t bring real drugs and hide them so they made look-a-likes.”

A common remark Conley has heard was, “I never thought to look there.”

As a parent with a relative who is in drug recovery, that was Adolfo Gonzales’ reaction. He said he was impressed with the event, and the interactive, drug-filled teen bedroom.

“This is a great educational tool,” Gonzales said. “You think it’s really not happening in your own home, but kids can find some clever hiding places.”

Alec Villa worked with fellow Arlington Youth Council members snooping through a bedroom vignette where fake drugs and paraphernalia were hidden, sometimes stashed in plain site in the most unlikely places.

Villa and his council mates found more than a dozen items in their search. In plastic water bottles that split in two in the center, the battery slot in a device, and Coke cans, to name a few.

“I think it was interesting all the hidden places you would never think of,” he said.

Along with trying to prevent kids from taking drugs, Conley said another goal was to “take away the stigma for those who want to get help.”

Vendors included Arlington Drug Awareness Coalition, Arlington police, Snohomish Health District, Cocoon House, Catholic Community Services, Lutheran Community Services, Nar-Anon Family Groups, Arlington Youth Council and Youth Dynamics. The coalition wanted people to have easy access to those who could help right away. Vendors were prevention, intervention, treatment or support groups.

Police had a table with drugs and paraphernalia from local cases, checked out from evidence storage so parents can put eyes on the actual items, Ambrose said. Drugs discussed included heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.

The coalition, which started in 2013 to fight the local heroin epidemic, has been putting on similar events for years.

Arlington police officer Mike Phillips called the event a great opportunity to meet face to face with residents, educate and share what they know is happening in the community.

Too many kids are going down the same road, abusing marijuana, heroin and prescription drugs. “Parents don’t always know what their children are up to,” he said.

Phillips’ best advice for parents? “Just be involved in your kid’s life. Take an interest in what they’re doing. Ask how they’re doing, and know who their friends are.”

Part of the event was about empowering parents.

Ambrose said, “We want to open up parents’ eyes. It’s your home.”

“They have permission to remember they are parents,” Conley said. “Their job is to keep kids safe. It’s not an invasion of privacy because it’s their child.

“Infringe away.”