Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The opioid epidemic was recently declared a national public health emergency – and for good reason.  In Indiana, an adult is now more likely to die from a drug overdose than a motor vehicle accident. But opioids aren’t the only substances fueling our addiction crisis. For example, 151,000 Hoosier children who are now under the age of 18 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking. And alcohol, marijuana and methamphetamine use are of continued concern. Substance use often begins in middle school and worsens through high school. Nationwide, 18 percent of students report having used a prescription drug […]

Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The opioid epidemic continues to plague Indianapolis and the rest of the state. With the rise in opioid misuse, there has been a parallel surge in pregnant women with opioid use disorder. Infants born to opioid-dependent mothers are at a high risk for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. NAS, which results from babies experiencing withdrawal from opioids once they leave the womb, leads to dehydration and poor weight gain, vomiting, tremors, irritability, high-pitched crying and seizures. With the rise of opioid epidemic, the incidence of NAS nationwide tripled from 1999 to 2013. NAS is becoming so common […]