Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. In 2017, more than 1,700 people died of a drug overdose in Indiana—an all-time high. This surge in overdose deaths has been driven by opioids, which now account for more than 80% of overdose deaths. Along with effective substance use prevention and harm reduction strategies, properly addressing the opioid epidemic requires ensuring access to effective treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder. That includes those in the criminal justice system. A large share of individuals in prisons and jails have misused opioids, and it’s estimated that 24%-36% of all heroin addicts pass through the criminal justice system each […]

Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Earlier this week, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation released two reports showing that in 2017, the opioid and tobacco epidemics claimed more than 14,200 Hoosier lives and cost our state $12.6 billion in healthcare costs, lost productivity and economic damages. These reports provide an update from the 2016 analyses the Foundation commissioned on Indiana’s opioid and tobacco challenges. While positive steps have been taken to address both health crises, the dynamic nature of the opioid epidemic and the stubborn persistence of tobacco mean more work must be done to make meaningful progress. Everyone – including employers, healthcare leaders, […]