Despite clear evidence of their success, all four federal programs specifically designed to prevent underage drinking are targeted for elimination under the President’s FY26 budget proposal—programs that have been proven to work and have enjoyed bipartisan support for nearly two decades under the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking (STOP) Act.

These cuts would dismantle:

• SAMHSA’s Community-Based Coalition Enhancement Grants
• SAMHSA’s  Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD)
• SAMHSA’s Media Campaign to Prevent Underage Drinking
• CDC’s Excessive Alcohol Program

These efforts have led to double-digit declines in teen alcohol use and binge drinking—yet underage drinking remains the most common form of substance use among youth, costing our country more than $24 billion each year and driving many of the leading preventable causes of death among young people.

Eliminating these programs would reverse critical progress and ignore the science: Early alcohol use dramatically increases the risk of lifelong addiction.

Tell Congress: Our youth deserve protection, not neglect.
Contact your representatives today and urge them to preserve and fully fund the STOP Act programs. Let’s continue the work of saving lives and building healthier futures.

The attached form will automatically send a pre-written message to your members of Congress. We encourage you to personalize the letter with your lived experience doing alcohol prevention work in your state in addition to including other federal funding cuts impacting alcohol prevention and recovery work in your state.  NOTE: we strongly suggest you reply using your personal email address.