Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Smokers, like all people, respond to incentives. One powerful incentive is price. When something becomes more expensive, people are less likely to consume that item. This fact is borne out in the extensive literature on the impact of cigarette taxes on smoking: As prices rise through taxes, fewer people smoke. This happens by keeping non-smokers, including youth, from starting in the first place and by encouraging current smokers to quit. But do increases in cigarette taxes in one state incentivize smokers (or tobacco retailers and wholesalers) to cross the border into neighboring states where cigarettes […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. It’s back-to-school season again. Parents and other caregivers are focused on ensuring their children start the year off successfully – encouraging everything from good studying and homework habits to participation on athletic teams or in other extracurricular activities. But are we focusing enough attention on our children’s safety, especially when it comes to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs – including access to prescription medications? A recent study published in JAMA Surgery found that 67% to 92% of adult patients who are prescribed opioid painkillers following surgery do not take all of their medication and do not dispose […]