LAKEWOOD – You go into your son or daughter’s bedroom. Where would you look for drugs? A can of Coke? In the dirty laundry? Under the mattress? In a pencil box? In an e-cigarette?

The answer is all five – and hundreds more.

At the “Not In My House” presentation at Lakewood High School Thursday night, three people searched through a bedroom set up on stage.

Chris Bartness found some mock drugs in the strangest place.

“When I saw Mr. Potato Head I knew something had to be in it,” Bartness said.

He also found some fake heroin inside a cell phone, where the battery was supposed to be.

Ashley Williams found fake drugs between headphones. She also found some inside a wallet and inside some pockets.

“They’ve been digging through everything,” Lakewood school resource officer Scott Stich said of how thorough their search was. They found almost all 11 of the hidden drugs or paraphernalia.

Stich had to show them one they missed – under a Russell Wilson statue.

“They tried to make it as real as possible,” said Andrea Conley of the Arlington Drug Awareness Coalition. “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.”

“It’s hidden in plain sight. You just have to know what to look for,” Conley said.

Detective Karen Lewis talked to the crowd about drug trends. Drugs discussed included heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.

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

The coalition, which started in 2013 to fight the local heroin epidemic, has been putting on similar events for years. Conley said the heroin epidemic has no demographic limitations. It can effect the best kids in the best families. For instance, say a kid gets hurt in sports. The youngster gets hooked on narcotics. When the prescription ends, the kid could turn to hard drugs because of the addiction. It’s gotten so bad that Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington no longer prescribes narcotics to young people, Conley said.

Another problem is old medications. A parent may have old painkillers, even locked up, but kids get them and you may not even know because you forgot about them, Conley said. People need to get rid of old drugs. Kids have been known to just throw medication drugs in a bowl at a party and take them, she added.

If one child takes drugs, it can have a ripple effect on other siblings. Also, mothers, especially, can have a soft heart and deny there is a problem and enable an addict, Conley said.

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

Vendors included Catholic Community Services, Alanon, Alateen, Arlington Community Resource Center and more. The coalition wanted people to have easy access to those who could help right away. Vendors were prevention, intervention, treatment or support groups. Stephanie Ambrose, school resource officer with Arlington police, said another 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.

Part of the presentation 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.”