Published June 12, 2023
This Is Quitting
The Truth Initiative was founded in 1999 as the American Legacy Foundation, dedicated to ending tobacco use among youth and young adults.
The name change occurred in 2015, and made clear the non-profit organization’s mission to expose deceptive marketing practices employed by the tobacco industry.
In 2018, in partnership with the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Ad Council, The Truth Initiative launched the vaping education campaign Safer ≠ Safe, and the opioid misuse prevention campaign The Truth About Opioids.
In 2019, The Truth Initiative, drawing upon input from young people with experience in attempting to quit vaping or in succeeding in vaping cessation, developed the first text messaging program designed to help teens and young adults to quit vaping.
The program, called This is Quitting, is free and confidential, and is conducted entirely via text messaging, to help teens and young adults to quit vaping.
To begin, a young person can text DITCHVAPE to 88709. In response, the person will be asked for age, product usage information, and stage of quitting journey, so that information sent will be suitable to the recipient.
In 2022, This is Quitting reached 500,000 users. The program is not only the first of its kind, but also the largest, and the only one validated by peer-reviewed research.
The two posters named below are intended for peer distribution – found to be the most effective method of disseminating information to young people – and are not to be altered in any way. The Truth Initiative recommends checking their website frequently for new materials of this type.
- Access the peer poster READY TO QUIT VAPING?
- Access the peer poster YOU GOT THIS