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Truth Initiative

Logo: w:Truth Initiative, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Nonprofit tobacco control organization

Truth Initiative (formerly the American Legacy Foundation or Legacy) is a nonprofit tobacco control organization "dedicated to achieving a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco". It was established in March 1999 as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between the attorneys general of 46 states, the District of Columbia and five United States territories, and the tobacco industry. Truth Initiative is best known for its youth smoking prevention campaign.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1999Founded1
  • HeadquartersWashington, D.C., United States1
  • Websitewww.truthinitiative.org
  • Legal formFOUNDATION3
  • Kind of organizationNonprofit organization1
  • LEI549300N8LC5MD18X7U663
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusLapsed (not renewed)3
  • Registered addressC/O The Corporation Trust Company, 19801 Wilmington, United States3

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Truth Initiative (formerly the American Legacy Foundation or Legacy) is a nonprofit tobacco control organization "dedicated to achieving a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco". It was established in March 1999 as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between the attorneys general of 46 states, the District of Columbia and five United States territories, and the tobacco industry. Truth Initiative is best known for its youth smoking prevention campaign. Its other primary aims include conducting tobacco control research and policy studies, organizing community and youth engagement programs and developing digital cessation and prevention products, including through revenue-generating models. The organization changed its name from the American Legacy Foundation to Truth Initiative on September 8, 2015, to align its name with that of its Truth campaign. As of 2016, the organization had more than $957 million in assets and a staff of 133 based primarily in its Washington, D.C., office.2

The story

History

Truth Initiative was founded in 1999 as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). The MSA was announced in 1998, resolving the lawsuits brought by 46 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and five territories against the major U.S. cigarette companies, to recover state Medicaid and other costs from caring for sick smokers. The four other states settled separately. The tobacco industry agreed to pay the states billions of dollars in perpetuity, making the MSA the then-largest civil litigation settlement in U.S. history. The states directed that a portion of the money they received from the settlement should be used to establish a national public health foundation dedicated to prevent youth smoking and helping smokers quit: the American Legacy Foundation, now Truth Initiative.

In 2018, the Truth Initiative partnered with Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Ad Council to combat opioid addiction.

Innovations, 2008-2017

The innovations center within Truth Initiative designs, builds and markets digital smoking cessation and prevention products that are centered around online social networks, text messaging and web and mobile applications. Any revenue generated by the innovations programs helps support other work at the organization.

Examples of these programs include:

BecomeAnEX: Created in 2008, BecomeAnEX is a free online resource for individuals who want to quit smoking. Its website hosts a community forum and features blogs written by other smokers and ex-smokers that discuss quit strategies, challenges and successes. In addition to the online community, the site offers cessation tools, counseling, medication information and other cessation support services.

EX Program: Launched in 2017 in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, the EX Program is a digital quit smoking program based on BecomeAnEx that health systems, health plans and employers can purchase and offer to their employees and members. In April 2025, EX Program announced its exclusive partnership with Blip, an emerging FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) brand targeting young adults.

This Is Quitting: Designed for young adults, This Is Quitting is a mobile app that relays evidence-based text messages and other user-generated content to assist users in the process of quitting smoking.

From Wikipedia’s article on Truth Initiative, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Timeline

  1. 1999Founded Founded1

Sources

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