About Break Free

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"We don't smoke that s___. We just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black, and the stupid."
- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Executive

Mission Statement

The Break Free Alliance is a program of the Health Education Council and is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office on Smoking and Health (OSH). The mission of Break Free Alliance is to reduce tobacco use among populations of low socioeconomic status (SES).

Characteristics of Low SES

Low SES populations are multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and dispersed throughout the United States.
Low SES Characteristics:

• Low-income
• Individuals with less than 12 years of education
• Medically underserved
• Unemployed
• Working poor

What We Do

Collaborate with Partner organizations who serve low SES populations to:

• Build their institutional capacity in tobacco control
• Assist with tobacco control education, activities and policy development
• Work with state tobacco programs, committees and regions/collaborate with other networks

This site was supported by Cooperative Grant Agreement #919140 from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility
of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.