Claire Fiddian-Green is the President & CEO of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. The opioid epidemic has received a lot of attention in Indiana, and for good reason. Drug overdose deaths – which are currently being driven by misuse of opioids, including prescription painkillers, heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl – resulted in the death of almost 1,300 Hoosiers in 2016. A recent National Safety Council survey found that 80% of Indiana employers reported workplace issues related to employee use of prescription opioids. And Indiana’s Department of Child Services reports that the number of children in foster care has risen dramatically due in large part to the opioid crisis. In […]

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 […]