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Our mission

Truth Initiative is America’s largest nonprofit public health organization dedicated to a future where commercial tobacco and nicotine addiction are a thing of the past. Our mission is clear: prevent youth and young adult nicotine addiction and empower quitting for all.

We are Truth Initiative

We believe each individual has the right to live in a world free from tobacco and nicotine dependence, tobacco-related death and disease, and the devastating dollar cost to individuals and society. 

We speak, seek, and spread the truth about smoking, vaping, and nicotine through our rigorous scientific research and policy studies, our proven-effective and nationally-recognized truth public education campaign, our community and youth engagement programs supporting populations at high risk of using tobacco products, and our innovations to end nicotine addiction by helping people quit.

We know we can fulfill our mission to prevent youth and young adult nicotine addiction and empower quitting for all. Our 25 years of lifesaving work include helping drive down the youth smoking rate from 23% in 2000 to just 2.3% in 2021 by preventing millions of young people from becoming smokers, including 2.5 million between 2015 and 2018 alone. As e-cigarettes threaten to addict a new generation to nicotine, we are leading the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction in all forms – and we won't stop until our mission is a reality.

Inspiring lives free from smoking, vaping, and nicotine is hard work and requires the attention and assistance of thought leaders and policymakers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, as well as the scholarly and scientific community, the media, and the public we serve. Together, we will create a future free from lifelong addiction, fostering healthier lives and a more resilient nation.

We are creating a future where commercial tobacco and nicotine addiction are things of the past. This is how we're doing.

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