Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. Yesterday the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced its plan to make its grandstands completely smoke-free starting this fall. We applaud IMS President Doug Boles and Hulman & Company President and CEO Mark D. Miles for their bold leadership when it comes to protecting the health of Hoosiers and IMS fans from across the globe. A study released by the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation last September showed that Indiana’s tobacco epidemic – an often-overlooked issue – costs our state more than 12,000 lives and $6.8 billion annually. And a report we released earlier this month found that Hoosier smokers […]

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 […]