From Drinking Binge To Blackout

You may remember the story of Jason Wren, a 19-year-old University of Kansas student who went on a drinking binge and died in a KU frat house in 2009.

Since then, KU students have taken part in the Jason Wren Initiative, a week every year at KU to remind students about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.

This year Toren Volkman will visit with students to tell his story of being a young alcoholic who, nearly drank himself to death in college.

In his book, Binge to Blackout, co-written by his mother, Chris Volkman, Toren writes:

Alcohol was my best friend, and I didn't want to stop drinking. I didn't quit drinking for my parents. I didn't quit drinking for my friends. I quit drinking because alcohol stopped working for me. I quit drinking because all the benefits that I saw in drinking slowly turned my life upside down. My life became a disaster, solely fueled by alcohol.

Thursday on Up to Date, Steve Kraske talks with Toren Volkman about his story, and what he's learned about teenage and college alcohol consumption, and its affect on young people.