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In our fight to end youth and young adult nicotine addiction, we focus on the issues that matter most. We constantly monitor the latest topics and trends in commercial tobacco and substance use.

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At Truth Initiative, we envision a future free from nicotine addiction—a future that fosters healthier lives and a more resilient nation. We are the nation’s largest nonprofit public health organization dedicated to preventing youth and young adult nicotine addiction and empowering quitting for all.

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By driving behavior and policy change, we prevent addiction, increase quitting, reduce nicotine dependence, and expand cessation support and access. All backed by rigorous research and evaluation.

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Join us in preventing youth and young adult nicotine addiction and empowering quitting for all. Learn about how you can help create a future free from nicotine addiction through activism, scholarships, studies, and more. Let’s work together.

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  • Home
  • The Culture + Cessation Collective

The Culture + Cessation Collective

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Empowering LGBTQ+, Black, and Latino communities to achieve freedom from nicotine addiction

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About the Collective

The Culture + Cessation Collective is rooted in cultural connection and community-driven support to provide safe spaces, meaningful conversations, and actionable resources to help communities disproportionately impacted by tobacco break free from nicotine addiction. 

The collective includes three coalitions of community leaders – Pride + Progress, Breath of Freedom, and Respira Vida – each focused on the unique needs of the LGBTQ+, Black, and Latino communities. Each coalition gathers for facilitated discussions centered on cultural sensitivity, community-specific challenges, and practical solutions, all with a policy-driven approach to ending nicotine addiction in these communities.

The Culture + Cessation Collective is powered by Truth Initiative, which is committed to creating lasting partnerships that drive culturally responsive, community-led solutions for tobacco cessation. EX Program, Truth Initiative’s free, proven-effective digital quit program, has helped millions of people with tools that can increase odds of quitting by up to 40%. 

Culture + Cessation Collective FAQs
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Pride + Progress

Recognizing the unique stressors, discrimination, and targeted marketing that have contributed to higher nicotine use in LGBTQ+ communities, this coalition fosters an inclusive space for healing and resilience. By collaborating with LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, mental health professionals, and cessation experts, Pride + Progress ensures that quitting is an affirming, stigma-free journey.

Learn more about Pride + Progress
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Breath of Freedom

Tobacco companies have long exploited Black communities through predatory marketing, especially of menthol cigarettes. Breath of Freedom is reclaiming the narrative, equipping Black individuals with the tools, education, and communal support needed to quit. Through partnerships with Black-led organizations, faith groups, and public health advocates, this coalition is not just about cessation—it’s about reclaiming health as a form of liberation.

Learn more about Breath of Freedom
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Respira Vida

Latino communities face a disproportionate burden from tobacco and nicotine addiction due to a combination of factors, including a history of targeted marketing from the tobacco industry, a lack of culturally competent cessation services, and systemic inequities, from social stressors to historical mistrust of medical institutions.

Learn more about Respira Vida