As medical and recreational cannabis gains acceptance across the country, many new accessories are being created for the growing population of daily cannabis users. Among the plethora of new vaporizers, storage containers and concentrates are a group of products uniquely suited to medical patients: cannabis use trackers.
The benefits of tracking your cannabis use as a medical patient can’t be understated. For one thing, it can save you money. Cannabis is personalized medicine, which means that it takes a certain amount of experimentation to learn the best delivery method and dosage for your situation. Without records of what does and doesn’t work for you, it’s easy to end up purchasing products that aren’t providing the symptom relief you need.
To that end, the biggest benefit of tracking your cannabis use is that it can help you learn how to effectively manage your symptoms, even if they vary. For example, you may discover that one particular strain perfectly manages your pain symptoms, but only at a specific dose – or only when used together with another method of delivery like an edible or topical. Because it’s personalized medicine, it can be complicated—there’s no “take two with every meal” instruction you can follow. With a cannabis use tracker, however, you can develop a recommendation for your own needs that is just as clear, simple and effective as a doctor’s prescription – and can be communicated easily to your caregiver or Dispensary staff.
A beautiful journal for tracking cannabis use, with a discreet cover labeled simply Patient Journal. Filled with helpful information on strains, cannabinoids and terpenes, plus templates for documenting cannabis experiences and strain test results, this templated log book is a great tool for cannabis patients. Cream-colored pages are easy to read and made from responsibly milled paper. And at $17.99, it’s cheaper than many of the high quality (blank) notebooks on the market.
The first-ever planner-style journal designed for home cannabis cultivation, this notebook includes a series of templates for tracking your results by strain, a daily log section, a weekly entry area for growers that don’t check their crops every day, tasting notes section and educational information about cannabinoids and terpenes. The perfect solution for allowing you to learn from past grows and avoid repeating mistakes, and thoughtfully designed with thick pages that can stand up to wet, dirty fingers and a waterproof cover. Also $17.99.
A partnership with Americans for Safe Access, the Releaf app allows you to track cannabis sessions and reminds you to record how it affects you. Electronic reports can then be sent to your doctor or caregiver. The app will create graphs and reports to help you understand the effects over time. Best of all, Releaf collects data from all of the patients using the app, collates the data and then sends it right back to you (completely anonymized, of course). The goal is for patients to help each other by sharing data about what strains and delivery methods work best for different symptoms. Releaf offers an appealing, well-designed user interface – and it’s completely free.*
The strainprint app is designed to help you determine which strains work best for you. It guides you through the entire process of trying a strain, prompting you to enter your symptoms and automatically asking you how you’re feeling after use. After a few sessions, the app begins generating a “Snapshot” of which strains work best for you. The company also has a loyalty program and will also send you freebies like rolling trays and grinders when you start using the service — and it’s completely free. However, it’s important to remember that the company will be gathering valuable data about your cannabis use.*
Botana is a beautiful and user-friendly app designed for managing your home cultivation. With unlimited free GroLogs for tracking which growing media, lights and feeding protocols you’re using, the ability to upload photos of the crop and create an Integrated Pest Management program, and the option to track environmental variables over time, plus a list of over 9000 strains, Botana offers one of the most sophisticated apps ever created for tracking the success of your homegrown cannabis. And, like the others – it’s free.*
*It’s important to keep in mind that all apps – not just Releaf – collect valuable data about you which is used for financial benefit by the app developers and may be shared with Third Parties. If privacy is a concern, you may prefer to use an analog system for tracking cannabis use (like the Patient Journal).
