Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. According to recently released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indiana’s already high smoking rate has gotten worse, in contrast to declines in most other states. That is bad news for Hoosiers and our state’s economy. Smoking remains the number one cause of preventable death in the United States and takes a heavy toll on Indiana especially. An estimated 11,100 Hoosiers die each year from smoking, and an additional 1,400 nonsmokers die annually from exposure to secondhand smoke. Smoking in Indiana also translates to $3.3 billion annually in healthcare costs and another […]

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, […]