Despite what efforts to legalize and popular culture would lead you to believe, it is a proven and conclusive fact that marijuana is definitely an addictive substance that may cause both acute and long-term physical and mental injury to users. Much like other drugs, somebody who has used marijuana for an extended time period will become hooked on its effects and can experience withdrawal symptoms if they initially quit using marijuana. Users today have very high grade marijuana at their disposal which wasn't true 10-20 years ago, making it a much bigger problem.

Somebody who uses marijuana often is significantly altering how the brain functions, so the brain can't just automatically readjust to normal operation once the person stops using marijuana, this can take some time. Individuals actually detox from marijuana, like any other drug, as marijuana is eliminated from the body and the body readjusts to function without marijuana. So marijuana detox can be a challenge for long-term users, because users will encounter withdrawal symptoms which can be tough to endure. These symptoms may not be as physical in nature as heroin withdrawal for example, but marijuana detox and withdrawal could cause extreme depression as well as other psychological symptoms for long-term users. This is the reason relapse is so prevalent for many who try to stop using marijuana on their own. Marijuana detox services are offered at drug detoxification and alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers in Ames to help people through this process so that they don't relapse and can obtain further rehabilitation services after detox.