What is a Cannabis Strain Journal?

Before I was a stoner, I was a wine snob. In an effort to stay mentally sharp after I became a stay at home mom, I began assigning myself different topics to master, and wine was one of them. I read books about it, drank a lot of it, and I kept a notebook documenting all of the wine I was trying.

Once I became a stoner I pretty much stopped drinking and have since purged my brain of all of that wine information in favor of random cannabis facts. Cannabinoids yes, terroir no.

But becoming a connoisseur of anything entails some basic work, including taking notes. We never just absorb the right information through no effort of our own, it takes work to understand things and to increase our knowledge.

Today I’m talking about using a strain journal to document your cannabis journal. We’re going to cover why to use one, things to track, and how to start one. We’ll also take a peek into the most beautiful and affordable cannabis journal I have found.

Reasons to Keep a Strain Journal

1. Effective Cannabis Therapy

The best reason to use a strain journal is to improve the therapeutic benefits when medicating with cannabis. Until medical marijuana is widely legalized, regulated, studied, and distributed, using medical cannabis effectively falls on the individual’s shoulders alone. Noone will be able to tell you better than yourself how pot makes you feel, but if you aren’t recording your results then good luck trying to remember which strain made your lifelong anxiety disappear. A strain journal is one powerful way to take control of your health.

2. Build Knowledge by Reinforcing Information

Writing something down is the easiest way to reinforce the memory in your mind. When we use both sides of our brain to learn something, the chances of us actually absorbing and remembering the information is greatly increased. If you take the time to record how a strain affects you, chances are you’ll be able to remember the name next time you’re out strain shopping.

3. Document Life

If you use a daily journal, you already know the unparalleled value of keeping one. There is immense value in recording and reflecting upon our daily lives, and adding the name of the strain you were smoking during various adventures adds another layer of detail to the well-documented life. Journaling gets us into the habit of mindfulness, and when we are mindful, everything becomes worthy of reflection. For many of us, our cannabis journey is a spiritual one, and documenting that spiritual journey is something we can all learn from.

4. Improve your Senses with a Tasting Journal

Back in my wine days, I learned that the more I practiced recognizing the flavor notes in wine, the better I became at detecting those flavors. Our knowledge is expanded when we are actively seeking answers. Begin jotting down a few observations during the first two hits of your stoner session, and you’ll soon be developing a sophisticated stoner pallet.

What to Record in a Strain Journal

Beginning a strain journal is easy! Just grab a notebook, your day planner, your phone, the dispensary receipt, an Instagram account, whatever, and start scribbling down information! Some ideas to get you started:

• name of the strain or concentrate
• where it’s from
• price
• grow location or statistics
• lab results
• aroma, flavor, terpenes
• known cannabinoid percentages
• intensity of high
• sativa/indica/hybrid
• why you bought it
• a timeline of your high
• symptoms relieved
• side effects felt
• star/number/thumbs-up rating
• strain genetics
• the day’s details
• consumption method
• high duration
• time taken to kick in
• munchies
• what you did while high
• stoned thoughts
• mental breakthroughs and observations

A Look Through the Patient Journal by Goldleaf

Of course, a lot of you reading are paper junkies like me and feel unnaturally excited by a well-made notebook. Those types will love Goldleaf’s beautiful collection of cannabis themed planners and journals. Let’s peek inside!

I found Goldleaf through their gorgeous Instagram account and immediately put David in charge of setting up a relationship with the company. I absolutely adore their clean aesthetic, their obvious attention to detail and their sophisticated rebranding of marijuana. Kudos to cannabis companies that are creating sophisticated products and taking the industry out of the days of tie-dye and incense.

The Patient Journal is a beautiful companion for the medical marijuana patient or the enthusiastic hobbyist. With beautiful illustrations, ample information, and lots of space for your personalized strain notes, this an affordable pre-made strain journal that will add value to any stoners lifestyle.

Visit ShopGoldleaf to check out the books in detail, as well as their lovely cannabis prints- one of which is hanging behind me right now!

Hopefully, this post has given you some ideas for documenting your cannabis journey in some way. Medicating solo without even a record of what you’ve used is sailing rudderless on a sea of… weed. Don’t rely on your stoned brain to recall what strains effectively treat your pain, anxiety, nausea or depression. Treat your cannabis like the medicine it is and document your strains! And remember, an educated stoner is an empowered stoner.