By Lily Reese and Grace Mangali
As journalists and journalism students, we never turn down a chance to investigate and do boots-on-the ground (or feet-in-the-sleeping bag) work. So when Eugene Weekly asked us to review cannabis sleep gummies to see if they work for those of us with insomnia, we organized a slumber party and hit up local and family-owned Sweet Tree Farms for some samples.
So we (Lily and Grace) and three of our journalistically oriented friends spent a Sunday night with a large black bag from Sweet Tree. Eugene Weekly is keeping the other participants anonymous because some newspapers don’t want to hire folks who admit to partaking.
We tried Wildberry Pearls by Grön and High Desert Hibernate Gummies on this night, and waited to sample Purefectionery Duo Fruit Fusions hemp gummies later.
To understand what exactly each gummy has in providing sleep aid, it’s important to break down what each compound is. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the primary psychoactive compound found in cannabis and is responsible for sensations associated with being high. CBD (cannabidiol) is a non-psychoactive compound that balances unwanted sensations that come from THC, like anxiety or the munchies. CBN (cannabinol) is a mildly psychoactive compound formed when THC is exposed to light or heat that is primarily associated with the sleepiness effect that comes from ingesting marijuana.
Wildberry Pearls have 10 mg of THC, 5 mg of CBN and are indica-dominant, meaning that the strain they come from is known to produce more of a body high; heavy limbs, eyelids and deep relaxation. Often, the word indica is associated with the phrase “in-da-couch.” Grön is a woman-owned business based out of Portland, and one package costs $24. Each pearl is sugar-coated and gluten-free and took almost an hour for us to feel the effect.
High Desert Hibernate Gummies each have 3 mg of THC, 10 mg of CBD and 9.2 mg of CBN. They are a full-spectrum hemp and cannabis extract blend made without gelatin, artificial flavor or synthetic colors. Rather than being an indica-dominant gummy, this edible utilizes the ratios of CBD, CBN and THC to elicit the sleepiness effect. High Desert is based out of Bend and each package costs $24. We tried the peach, orange and cherry flavors in the package, which all tasted a little bit like weed. Purefectionery Duo Fruit Fusions hemp gummies each have 52.4 mg of CBD and 10.2 mg of CBN, without the traditional THC profile or a specific plant strain like indica or sativa. Based out of Portland, Purefectionery Duo’s peach and blueberry blissful cost $20.
Our group had a range of cannabis experience levels, so we all took dosages that aligned with our individual comfort with edibles. Some of us opted for the lower dose of THC by choosing High Desert, while others opted for Grön or Purefectionary.
Immediately, we all documented feeling anxiety. There’s a hyperawareness of your limbs and head and a placebo effect. “Do you feel it?” we asked two minutes in. “Do you feel it yet?”
At the 20-minute mark, those of us who took the High Desert gummies, which have THC, reported feeling cotton mouth and a chill vibe. High Desert claims to have a 15-minute onset, while the Pearls average a 45-minute onset and can take up to two hours. Those of us who took the Pearls were left with a hint of weed taste, but not quite feeling it yet at 20 minutes.
The conversation then veered to the validity of the yawns. According to Season 3, Episode 15 of MythBusters (a totally valid source once you’ve ingested gummies), the myth that you copy someone who yawns right in front of you was confirmed, though their sample size was not nearly large enough for conclusive evidence. Throughout this conversation, one friend yawned six times, while Lily yawned four times. Another friend kept her mouth shut intentionally, so as to bust the myth.
At the 40-minute mark, it hadn’t seemed like 40 minutes had passed; time was moving exceptionally fast for our Pearl takers. Everyone’s eyelids started to droop, and reaction times became slower. We went around the room to describe how we felt in one word, most of them being “sleepy.”
Fifty minutes in and we were all high. Those of us who took the High Desert reported an elevated heartbeat and tingling muscles.
The initial anxiety that comes with getting high led us into a debate on the influence that having our names in this article would have on our future career prospects. This then led into a conversation about different generations and how we went from “The Silent Generation” to “Millennials” and “Gen Z.” If anyone denied feeling it by that point, they would be lying.
Our high rambling transition from one topic to the next: How we’ll never know a world without technology, how seeing Primetime might be a good journalism class field trip, how consequential is reality TV? And what is Jenna Marbles, the comedian and former YouTuber, up to since leaving the public eye in 2020?
What better to quiet edible-induced discursive conversation than a movie to unwind before bed? Originally, we wanted to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, an obvious choice for stoned journalists, but we couldn’t find it on streaming. We then settled on the 1986 classic Labyrinth, at the recommendation of our editor, Camilla Mortensen. Somewhere between the tight pants, goblin kings and cryptic dialogue, we had to question if Mortensen was playing a practical joke on us while we were stoned.
Two hours had passed since the dosage, and we were all in our own sleepy world. Everyone who took the High Desert reported feeling ready for bed, while the Pearls caused a more traditional high. The Purefectionery Duo edibles offered similar effects to High Desert with a less psychoactive component. Contentment is the best way to describe it, as our activity and note-taking petered out by the third hour.
At 10 pm it was time to do what we’d been waiting for all night: sleep (which, after a 15 minute doomscrolling session, was like a rock).
Sweet Tree Farms is located at 4097 West 11th Avenue and STFEugene.com. More information about Grön Edibles can be found at EatGron.com. Find High Desert products at HighDesertPure.com. Purefectionery products and more information can be found on Instagram @Purefectionery.