Ecological Momentary Assessment

Capture cannabis use the moment it happens — not reconstructed days later

SmokingTracker uses EMA to log sessions, mood, and triggers in real time. Three taps. No cognitive load. No recall bias distorting your clinical data.

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The recall problem

Cannabis affects short-term memory. Your clients aren't lying — they just can't recall.

Regular cannabis use impairs episodic memory encoding. By the time a client sits across from you, a full week of sessions, moods, and triggers has dissolved into a vague "about the same." EMA fixes this — by capturing it the moment it happens, not reconstructed in a clinical setting days later.

Three-tap logging

Minimum friction. Maximum compliance.

Cannabis use disorder clients often have impaired working memory during active use. A complicated logging interface guarantees low compliance. SmokingTracker's three-tap interface logs a full session in under five seconds — removing the barrier to real-time capture.

Three required taps — substance, amount, method
Optional: mood rating, craving score, trigger, location, notes
Works in any mobile browser — no app store download
Fast-use warning notifies the client in the moment

See the full client experience →

Client logging a cannabis session — three-tap interface

Mood & trigger capture

The data that vanishes without EMA

Research shows that craving, state anxiety, and social context predict use episodes — but only when measured in the moment. By the time a client sits across from you, these proximal triggers are gone. EMA captures them before they dissolve.

Mood rating tied to each session
Craving score logged independently of use
Trigger categories: social, stress, boredom, habit, pain
Location context captured automatically (optional)

See how this appears on the dashboard →

Cannabis tracking app — home calendar view showing logged sessions

Longitudinal statistics

Patterns that only emerge over time

Individual sessions are noise. Patterns are signal. SmokingTracker aggregates EMA data into weekly trends, time-of-day heatmaps, trigger frequency rankings, and mood-use correlations — giving both client and clinician a picture that no single session can provide.

Week-over-week consumption trends
Time-of-day usage heatmap
Top trigger categories by frequency
Smoke-free days calendar and streak counter

See the practitioner analytics view →

Cannabis use statistics — weekly trends and patterns

Evidence base

EMA is the gold standard for substance use research

SmokingTracker's logging methodology is built directly on peer-reviewed EMA research.

Ecological validity

EMA dramatically outperforms retrospective recall

Capturing behavior as it happens removes the systematic distortions of memory-based self-report. 1

Proximal triggers

Craving and social context predict use — in real time only

Associations between triggers and use episodes are only detectable in momentary data — they vanish in retrospective reports. 23

CUD-specific validation

EMA validated for cannabis use disorder specifically

Mood–craving–use dynamics in CUD are reliably captured by EMA — and missed entirely by structured clinical interviews. 6

Clinical outcomes

Timely real-time data improves treatment outcomes

Systematic, timely client feedback improves clinical outcomes in substance use disorder settings — the foundation of Measurement-Based Care. 45

References: [1] Shiffman et al., Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2008 · PMID 18509902 | [2] Buckner et al., J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2012 · PMID 21643485 | [3] Buckner et al., Addict Behav 2012 · PMID 22766487 | [4] Fortney et al., Psychiatr Serv 2017 · PMID 27582237 | [5] Scott & Lewis, Cogn Behav Pract 2015 · PMID 27330267 | [6] Serre et al., Drug Alcohol Depend 2015 · PMID 25637078

How EMA logging works

From invitation to real-time data in minutes

No technical setup for the client. No app store required.

Clinician sends an invite

Create an invitation from the Practitioner Dashboard. The client receives a link — email, SMS, or manual handoff. No app download required.

Client logs in the moment

Three taps to log a session. Optional mood, trigger, and notes fields. The data is captured when it's accurate — not recalled later.

Clinician sees structured patterns

EMA data aggregates into trends, trigger patterns, and traffic light status. Session-ready before the client walks in.

See EMA logging in your workflow

Book a free 20-minute demo. We'll show you exactly how clients log between sessions and how the data appears on your dashboard.

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Currently free until October 2026 · No setup fee · No automatic charges

Want to see it in action?

Request access and see how SmokingTracker can support your treatment center during the current free pilot.