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 […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. E-cigarettes, which came onto the market about a decade ago, have been heralded as a means to assist adult smokers in their attempts to quit smoking. And some high-quality research supports this position: adult smokers who switch from cigarettes or cigars to e-cigarettes have had good success in decreasing their use of nicotine and even quitting altogether. The trouble is, e-cigarettes – such as the dominant brand, Juul, which has about 55% market share – have become an appealing avenue to introduce young people to nicotine. According to Jonathan Winickoff, a pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital and […]