Greg interviews Paul Web and Marcie Mason about Hidden In Plain Sight. Paul is a Copley Police Department Detective, while Marcie is a Youth Services Worker for both the Copley and Bath Police Departments. Hidden In Plain Sight is an awareness program geared towards parents and other concerned adults. The program strengthens recognition skills by displaying items in a typical teen room that are indicators of drug or alcohol use.

Marcie discusses how Marijuana and alcohol use at a young age can lead to substance abuse later in life. She gives the example of kids she’s worked with the Police Department Immersion Program who’ve struggled with Marijuana or alcohol at 15 or 16, struggling with opioids five or six years later. She says the increase in use of substances like Marijuana and alcohol for teenagers is between 8th and 10th grade. Paul explains the differences seen between the middle and high school age groups in terms of substance abuse. “We’ve had calls in the middle school, but not to the magnitude compared to the older kids in the high school,” says Paul. “The [early high school] target is right statistically. We use Monitoring the Future for our program to ensure accuracy.”

Listen to the podcast to discover the components of Hidden In Plain Sight. Find out where you can see an upcoming presentation here.