Surprising ways kids hide their pot smoking

TOWSON, Md. - As parents, you worry about a lot of things, especially whether your kids might be drinking or smoking pot. 

When it comes to marijuana , you know to look for certain tools like pipes or bongs.  But some teens are hiding the way they smoke weed in plain sight.

It may be called the same thing and smoked the same way.  But marijuana has changed since the 60's.  Addiction expert Mike Gimbel with St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson says, "This is not your father's pot.  Things are very, very different."

Gimbel believes it's not just the dope that's different, so are the undercover tools kids use to smoke it.  He explains, "Now they've taken drug paraphernalia and turned it into everyday items." 

The items he’s talking about let your kid hide their pot habit in plain sight.  They seem like harmless household stuff.  But once you look closer, you’ll see they're not what they appear. 

From highlighting markers that aren’t being used for homework to key ring flashlights that kids can twist the end to use as they light up, there are many ways they’re keeping their pot smoking off your radar. 

Gimbel showed us a marker that’s used as a pipe and explained, "It looks very real.  But you take the bottom out and you have a marijuana pipe."

Kids make pipes out of make-up too.  There are lipstick containers that look like the real thing but if you unscrew the top, you’ve got the tools to toke.  Gimbel says, "There isn't a parent in the world that's going to suspect that this is a pipe."

Parents also won't suspect their kids are wearing something that helps them get high.  But jewelry is the latest trend. 

Gimbel demonstrates, "You have your nice bracelet, just where it clips, you think it is a nice clip.  It actually is a bowl; you put your pot in.  The front part comes down and you've got a pipe."

These are all undercover pipes parents won't see unless they know what to look for.  Gimbel says, “It makes our job harder because we now have to start looking at their jewelry. 

We have to start looking at their markers.  It makes it like we have to become cops when we're supposed to be parents and educators."

But now you've got to be detectives, digging into what your kid carries to figure out if you should be concerned. 

Gimbel says, "As a parent, I don't care if my child is the greatest child in the world.  I'd still talk about this.  I'd still keep my eyes and ears open.”

The items Gimbel showed us are sold at tobacco shops or so-called "head shops" here in the Baltimore area and on the internet under the guise they can be used for tobacco. 

But kids don't have to buy a thing either if they’re looking for a pipe.  Gimbel says they can use real items like faucets and other things around the house as pipes to smoke pot.