Our top issues

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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Who we are

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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Research & resources

Get the latest facts and analyses on the most important issues related to smoking, vaping, nicotine and substance use.

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What we do

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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Get involved

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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Our History

Master Settlement Agreement

The Master Settlement Agreement, the largest civil litigation settlement in American history, is established between the major tobacco companies and 46 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. The MSA changes the face of tobacco control in America and results in tobacco companies agreeing to pay billions of dollars to compensate states and territories for taxpayer money that had been spent in connection with tobacco-related diseases.

Read more about the MSA

American Legacy Foundation

American Legacy Foundation (later renamed Truth Initiative) is founded as part of the Master Settlement Agreement. It is the first national public health organization dedicated to ending tobacco use among youth and young adults. The board of directors selects Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, as the chief executive officer.

truth campaign

​Our first truth campaign ads air nationwide, and the truth tour brings information to teens at music and sports venues across the country. Meanwhile, we launch our grant programs beginning with a state-level youth empowerment initiative. 

Priority populations program

​We launch our priority populations program designed to address the toll of tobacco in underserved populations in the U.S. This program provides funding for prevention and quitting projects among racial, ethnic and LGBT communities.

Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

With funding from our organization, The University of California, San Francisco unveils the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, now called the Truth Initiative Tobacco Documents Library. In addition to a permanent exhibit at UCSF, it provides online access to more than 14 million once-secret internal documents about tobacco industry marketing techniques.

Visit Truth Initiative Tobacco Documents Library

American Journal of Public Health research

Research published in the American Journal of Public Health credits the truth campaign with 22% of the overall decline in youth smoking rates from 2000 to 2002. That’s 300,000 fewer smokers in 2002.

​See our impact

Delaware Supreme Court ruling

The Delaware Supreme Court unanimously rules in our favor, ending a five-year legal battle with the Lorillard Tobacco Company. The ruling vindicates the bold approach of our youth and young adult public education campaigns and ends Lorillard’s effort to shut down the campaign.

“Ending the Tobacco Problem” report

The Institute of Medicine releases “Ending the Tobacco Problem: A Blueprint for the Nation,” a landmark report funded by our organization. The report offers broad-reaching recommendations for action by federal, state, local, nonprofit and for-profit entities.

BecomeAnEX

We roll out a digital quitting program, now part of EX Program, kicking off our creation of cutting-edge solutions to empower people to quit smoking, vaping, or any type of tobacco product. With access to the right resources, freedom from nicotine addiction is possible for anyone. 

Explore our quitting programs

“A Hidden Epidemic” report

Our report, “A Hidden Epidemic: Tobacco Use and Mental Illness,” highlights the high levels of tobacco use and nicotine dependence among people with mental illnesses. It explains how organizations supporting people with mental illness can help them quit.

New leadership: Robin Koval

Marketing and communications leader Robin Koval becomes CEO and president, succeeding the organization’s first leader Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH.

"Finish It" campaign

We launched the “Finish It” campaign, aimed at empowering youth and young adults to make their generation the one that finally ends smoking. Our campaign launches at the MTV Video Music Awards with this message: The tobacco crisis isn’t over, but this generation can be the one to finish it. 

New name: Truth Initiative

American Legacy Foundation becomes Truth Initiative. The new name more clearly connects our youth and young adult public education campaigns to our groundbreaking research, education initiatives, community engagement efforts and proven-effective digital cessation programs. 

Tobacco Nation

We publish a report examining a collection of 12 contiguous states stretching from the upper Midwest to the South where smoking rates exceed not only the national average, but that of many of the most tobacco-dependent countries in the world. We call this nation within our country “Tobacco Nation” and call attention to the disparities that undermine our national progress.

Protecting a new generation: e-cigarette and opioid epidemics

Truth Initiative launches two new youth and young adult public education campaigns to address major epidemics impacting young people: one focused on the youth-e-cigarette crisis, and another on preventing opioid misuse among youth and young adults.

Two decades of fighting tobacco use

Truth Initiative marked 20 years of lifesaving work that prevented millions of young people from becoming smokers – including 2.5 million between 2015 and 2018 alone – and helped drive down the youth smoking rate from 23% to just 3.7%. Two decades of combatting tobacco use prepared us to take on the new crisis of youth e-cigarette use. 

One of the world’s most innovative organizations

Fast Company named Truth Initiative to its prestigious list of the World’s Most 50 Most Innovative Companies and the Top 10 Most Innovative Not-for-Profit Organizations for 2020. This recognition underscores the efficacy of our efforts to combat the youth e-cigarette crisis, similar to how we helped drive down teen smoking rates to historic lows. Fast Company highlighted our “ads aimed at curbing vaping” and innovative efforts to help young people quit vaping, including a free and anonymous text messaging program, now part of EX Program.

National youth vaping prevention curriculum

In its first year, Vaping: Know the truth – our free, national youth vaping prevention curriculum by Truth Initiative and Kaiser Permanente in collaboration with the American Heart Association – was used by 3,319 schools across the country. More than a quarter of a million students (260,000) had actively engaged in the digital course available through the leading social impact education innovator, EVERFI

Helping half-a-million young people quit vaping nicotine

Our free and anonymous text messaging program, now part of EX Program, reaches a milestone, helping half-a-million young people quit vaping nicotine. First launched in 2019, our free and anonymous text messaging program was developed with input from teens, college students and young adults who had attempted to, or successfully, quit e-cigarettes. 

New Leadership: Kathy Crosby

Kathy Crosby, former director at the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, joins Truth Initiative as CEO and President. She succeeds the organization's second leader, Robin Koval, who retired after 10 years of transformational leadership. Crosby's commitment to public health and her belief in the power of education and communication to create meaningful behavior change has been evident throughout her distinguished career, and her work has significantly contributed to reducing tobacco use.

“Outsmart Nicotine” campaign features enhanced EX Program

Our nationally recognized public education campaigns have helped drive down the youth smoking rate from 23% in 2000 to under 2% today and reduced youth e-cigarette use to its lowest level in a decade. Our newest young adult campaign, Outsmart Nicotine, introduces a new generation to our market-leading, free EX Program, equipping them with the tools, resources, and support to quit for good or never start in the first place. EX Program supports anyone looking to quit smoking, vaping, or any tobacco product with tools that have been proven to increase odds of quitting by up to 40%.

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