Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The dangers of smoking are well-known. Smokers are more likely to die from lung cancer, heart disease, lung disease and other deadly illnesses, not to mention the health risks caused by secondhand smoke exposure or the impacts to newborns caused by smoking among pregnant women. Yet smoking still persists—for example, more than 1 in 5 Hoosiers currently smoke—in large part due to the addictive effects of nicotine. More than two-thirds of smokers want to quit, but nicotine keeps smokers smoking and consuming the other carcinogens and toxicants for the long term. What if it was […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. A recent report about tobacco use in the U.S. noted that adult smoking rates in 12 contiguous states exceed not only the national average, but that of many of the world’s most tobacco-dependent countries, including China, Indonesia and Brazil. Unfortunately, Indiana is one of these 12 states, which together comprise “Tobacco Nation.” In Tobacco Nation states, health outcomes are poorer than the national average. Incidences of preventable diseases linked to smoking – like lung and other cancers, and heart disease – are also higher. So it’s not surprising that life expectancy rates are lower in these states, […]