In spite of what initiatives to legalize and today's culture would lead you to believe, it's a proven and scientific indisputable fact that marijuana can be an addictive substance that may cause both short and long-term physical and mental harm to users. Like other drugs, someone who has used marijuana for an extended period of time can become dependent on its effects and may encounter withdrawal symptoms should they abruptly quit using marijuana. Users today have very high grade marijuana available which wasn't true twenty years ago, which makes it an even larger problem.

Somebody that uses marijuana on a regular basis is significantly altering the way the brain functions, so the brain can't just instantly readjust to normal operation as soon as the individual ceases using marijuana, this may take some time. Individuals actually detox from marijuana, like every other drug, as the drug is eliminated from your body and the body readjusts to normal operation without marijuana. So marijuana detox is usually a challenge for habitual users, because users will experience withdrawal symptoms that may be hard to endure. These symptoms might not be as physical as it is with heroin withdrawal as an example, but marijuana detox and withdrawal could cause severe depression along with other mental symptoms for chronic users. For this reason relapse is so prevalent for many who try to quit using marijuana on their own. Marijuana detox services are offered at alcohol and drug detoxification and drug treatment centers in Oakland to help people through this process so they don't relapse and may receive further rehab services following detoxification.