Cory Monteith Reveals He Had a "Serious" Drug Problem

Cory Monteith, who is best known for his role as the clean-cut jock Finn Hudson on Glee, reveals to Parade magazine that he had a serious drug problem when he was a teen. In this Sunday's issue, Monteith, who is now 29 years old, admits, "I'm lucky on so many counts, I'm lucky to be alive."

The British Columbia native said that by the time he was 13 years old he was getting drunk, smoking pot and skipping school.  By the time Monteith was 16 years old, he had moved on to stronger and harder drugs. At age 19 he went to rehab, but it didn’t seem to help. 

After stealing money from a family member Monteith says he was given an ultimatum to either get clean or face theft charges.  Monteith credits that incident with turning his life around, explaining, "I was done fighting myself. I finally said, 'I'm gonna start looking at my life and figure out why I'm doing this.'"

Image: Toby Canham/Getty Images

Provided by ABC News Radio