District 287 holds chemical health forum – As drug abuse trends continue to change, educators from Intermediate District 287 fight to stay “in the know.” This week, the district held a forum to discuss new drug trends and ways to help their students. District 287 offers specialized education to students in the west metro, including Brooklyn Center, Osseo and Robbinsdale. District 287 social worker Maribeth Barrett-Grimsby said she has worked with several students who have in some way dealt with the issue of drug abuse. “We get some students that are starting to get involved in some drugs and alcohol and also a lot of the families have issues with chemical dependency,” she said. She is one of more than a hundred local social workers, teachers, counselors and mental health professionals who attended the forum to stay ahead of a crucial learning curve. “Drug abuse and abuse changes continually and it seems like every couple years there’s a new fad and a new phase,” said District 287 social emotional learning coordinator Linda Oberg, “To kind of keep current with information I like to come to conferences just to gain that information.” This is the twelfth year the district has held a chemical health forum that features speakers from the health field and offers the latest facts on drug abuse. One of the topics of the forum was the sharp rise of heroin and prescription opiate abuse in the Twin Cities. According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, 20% of admissions to addiction treatment programs in the Metro …