Despite what initiatives to legalize and popular culture wants you to believe, it is a proven and conclusive fact that marijuana is definitely an addictive substance which may cause both short and long-term physical and psychological harm to users. Much like other drugs, anyone who has used marijuana for a prolonged period of time can become hooked on its effects and definately will encounter withdrawal symptoms if they abruptly stop using marijuana. Individuals today have very high grade marijuana available which wasn't the situation 10-20 years ago, which makes it an even larger issue.

Someone who uses marijuana often is significantly changing the way the brain functions, therefore the brain can't just instantly return to normal function when the person ceases using marijuana, this may take time. People actually detox from marijuana, like every other drug, as marijuana is eliminated from the body and the body readjusts to normal operation without marijuana. So marijuana detox can be quite a challenge for habitual users, because users will encounter withdrawal symptoms which can be hard to endure. These symptoms may not be as physical as it is with heroin withdrawal for example, but marijuana detox and withdrawal may cause severe depression along with other psychological symptoms for long-term users. This is why relapse is really common for individuals who try and stop using marijuana on their own. Marijuana detox services are offered at drug and alcohol detoxification and drug and alcohol treatment programs in Yale to help people through this course of action so that they don't relapse and can obtain further rehabilitation services following detoxification.