Despite what efforts to legalize and popular culture wants you to think, it's a proven and scientific fact that marijuana is an addictive substance which may cause both acute and long-term physical and mental harm to users. Similar to other drugs, a person who has used marijuana for a prolonged period of time will become dependent on its effects and definately will encounter withdrawal symptoms should they initially stop using marijuana. Users today have very high grade marijuana at their disposal which wasn't the case 10-20 years ago, which makes it an even larger issue.

Somebody that uses marijuana regularly is significantly changing how the brain functions, so the brain can't just automatically return to normal function once the person stops using marijuana, this will take some time. Individuals actually detox from marijuana, like any other drug, as marijuana is eliminated from the body and the body readjusts to normal operation without marijuana. So marijuana detox is usually a challenge for long-term users, because users will encounter withdrawal symptoms which may be tough to endure. These symptoms may not be as physical as it is with heroin withdrawal for instance, but marijuana detox and withdrawal may cause severe depression as well as other mental symptoms for long-term users. For this reason relapse is really common for individuals who make an attempt to stop using marijuana by themselves. Marijuana detox services are offered at alcohol and drug detoxification and drug and alcohol treatment programs in Ridgway to help people through this course of action so they don't relapse and can receive further treatment services following detox.