During the week of April 18 to 22, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will focus on getting anti-drinking messages into fifth and sixth grade classrooms, following SAMHSA studies that show drinking by young teens leads to alcohol abuse or dependence later in life. In the year 2002, for example, surveys found that 35 percent of persons who were admitted to treatment for alcohol use or dependence had become intoxicated for the first time when they were 15 to 17 years old, and one-quarter had begun drinking between the ages of 12 and 14. “While we know that the majority of youth do not drink,” said Charles Curie, administrator of SAMHSA, “these new SAMHSA data confirm that the vast majority of those in treatment for alcohol misuse had an early initiation into intoxication.” Now in its fourth year, the “Reach Out Now” program is providing SAMHSA materials to fifth and sixth grade teachers to educate youngsters before they become teens about the dangers to young bodies associated with alcohol, and public figures are scheduled to conduct at least one teach-in in every state. Reach Out Now materials are available at www.teachin.samhsa.gov.