At just 18 years old, Christopher Gleason has enough experience with alcohol addiction to speak with authority about the damage it can cause. He has been drinking since he was 12 and is now in a rehabilitation program. He spoke to a group of Connecticut teens, hoping to discourage them from following in his footsteps.

"As part of a panel discussion on the consequences of underage drinking, Gleason talked about how alcohol and drugs have impacted his life. He'd go to parties and black out, remembering only the earlier part of the evenings. He'd get into fights, he said, and other trouble. He's also burned a lot of bridges."

Though four other panelists participated in the discussion, it was Chris' stories that teens connected with the most. Read more at TheDay.com.

Labels: consequences, effects, role_models