Alcohol and Marijuana Since the beginning of time people have used all types of substances to feel liberated. Alcohol and marijuana are consumed every day in America by teenagers to seniors; there is no set range on who consumes these drugs. Despite the efforts of the imposed laws: people feel the need to consume these substances and engage in behavior that is out of the ordinary. Drugs and alcohol are used in the story “Cathedral,” but they are also used in Raymond Carver's personal life. Carver began drinking heavily in 1967 and was hospitalized several times for alcoholism in the 1970s. Carver's minimum wage jobs, demands of parenthood, and need to bring money home led to his addiction to alcohol. Alcohol became a problem because Carver found himself with an old car, a rented house and serious debt, as well as a perpetual burden of frustration resulting from having neither privacy nor free time to write: he more or less gave up, threw the towel and took full-time drinking as a serious pursuit. Raymond's wife also drank heavily during this period, contributing to the acceleration of Raymond's alcohol problems and the family's general chaos. He was unable to complete his assignment at the University of California due to his addiction. In 1977 he was hospitalized on four separate occasions for acute alcoholism. Carver was an alcoholic before his “second life,” as he called it, after recovery from alcoholism. Most of his short stories deal with themes of loss and disappointment caused by alcoholism. Alcohol consumption poses a huge risk for many health problems. Alcohol consumption has been identified as a major risk factor for ...... middle of paper ......der, regardless of whether substance use helps or harms people. Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." North Dakota State University. November 10, 2009. .---. "Vitamins." New Bulgarian University. November 10, 2009. "Carver, Raymond." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. November 8, 2009. .Nordgren, Joe. "Raymond Carver: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Campo. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Storm. November 8, 2009. .Williams, Gary. "Raymond Carver." American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. Ed. Lea Beachler and A. Walton Litz. New York: Sons of Charles Scriber, 1991. Literature Resource Center. Storm. November 8, 2009. .Wriglesworth, Chad. "Raymond Carver and Alcoholics Anonymous; Religion and the Arts." 8 (2004): 458-478. Academic research completed. November 23. 2009