Methodology v0.1 / 26 April 2026
Phenologue: a structured PRO methodology for medical cannabis
Phenologue captures session-level outcomes against cultivar chemotypes, builds longitudinal personal data, and produces aggregable anonymised research output. Pen and paper works fine. The platform automates the bookkeeping.
Design principles
- Chemotype over taxonomy. Strain name is a marketing label; the unit of analysis is the cannabinoid + terpene profile of a specific batch.
- Pre/post comparison. Every session captures both pre- and post-state on the same scales. Effects are deltas, not absolutes.
- Standardised scales. 0–10 visual analogue scales with anchored descriptors. Free text is recorded but never used for quantitative analysis.
- Batch fidelity. Sessions tie to a specific batch number. Batches from the same cultivar are not pooled without producer-confirmed identity.
- Method controlled. Vape temperature, dose, and route are recorded.
- Inference is flagged. Where COAs are unavailable, terpene profiles are inferred from organoleptic assessment and tagged
inferred, nevermeasured. - Patient-led, not clinician-led. A self-quantification tool. Not a clinical document.
- Anonymisable by design. All structures support stripping personal identifiers for aggregation.
- Scientifically literate by default. The protocol does not dumb down chemistry, pharmacology, or statistical caveats.
- Honest about limitations. Subjective rating data has well-known biases. The protocol makes them visible and consistent.
What it is not
- Not a medical device.
- Not a diagnostic tool.
- Not a substitute for clinical advice.
- Not a regulated medical record.
- Not a prescribing decision support tool (that is a separate product layer).
Versioning
Patch versions are clarifications and descriptor additions. Minor versions add scales, fields, and analysis approaches (backward-compatible). Major versions are breaking changes with migration paths. Substantive changes require a public RFC period of two weeks minimum.
Every session, report, and export is stamped with the methodology version it was created against. Aggregate analyses report the version distribution of their underlying sessions.