Who we are and what we do

Truth Initiative® is America’s largest non-profit public health organization dedicated to making tobacco use a thing of the past. We speak, seek and spread the truth about tobacco through education, tobacco-control research and policy studies, community activism and engagement, and innovation in tobacco dependence treatment.

 

We’ve helped bring teen cigarette use down from 23 percent in 2000 to less than 6 percent in 2018. We’re proud of that success, but our work won’t stop until we achieve a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco.

 

Known previously as American Legacy Foundation, we were established as part of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between major U.S. tobacco companies and 46 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and five territories.

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our history

2019

Truth Initiative marks 20 years of life-saving work that has prevented millions of young people from becoming smokers – including 2.5 million in the past three years alone – and driven down the youth smoking rate from 23 percent to just 4.6 percent. Two decades of combatting tobacco use has prepared us to continue the fight and take on the new epidemic of youth e-cigarette use.

2018

Truth Initiative launched two new major truth campaigns: one to address the youth e-cigarette epidemic called Safer ≠ Safe and another focused on preventing opioid misuse among youth and young adults called The Truth About Opioids, in partnership with the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Ad Council.

2017

In 2017, Truth Initiative published research in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, that found that over the course of a single year, truth® prevented more than 300,000 youth and young adults from starting to smoke.

annual reporting

Truth Initiative is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The organization regularly produces reports that highlight our activities and achievements and the progress we’ve made in reaching our goals. You can access our annual progress reports and financial statements here in PDF format.

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join our team

Check out our job openings if you are committed to working toward a future free of tobacco. We encourage you to get in touch whether you’re an experienced leader in your field or just starting out after school.

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Partnering with Truth Initiative

We’ve worked with established corporations along with startups just getting off the ground, and we’re always looking for creative solutions that lead to mutually beneficial outcomes.

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