The hardest part about Eugene Weekly’s Cannabis Issue is that despite the weed ads paying for a lot of the news we print, very few of us actually partake all that often. Weird, we know. We appreciate those of you who do — legal marijauna has earned us (repeatedly) the nickname of Eugene Weedly, and hey, it pays the bills. Freedom of the press ain’t free.
Since we know very little about smoking, inhaling, eating or otherwise imbibing THC, we stuck to cannabidiol aka CBD for our product roundup. We reached out to various CBD product manufacturers and suppliers, and this is what they sent us.
Sandie’s Cannabis Candies
In a rare moment (for us) of excellent timing, these CBD hard candies showed up the same week as the Holiday Farm Fire. We were stressed out, crabby and overworked. The package of the sweet little suckers said “activation time: 45 minutes,” but no doubt following legal guidelines, they didn’t say what was being activated. The biggest side effect we noticed as a whole was that the candies were calming in a high-stress time. Maybe it was the cannabidiol, or maybe it was just the soothing nature of sucking on candies when all you want to do is lie on the floor, curl in a ball and, well, suck on a candy.
Each candy had a flavor to it, like marionberry, but the strongest note was the taste of Red Vines — which isn’t a bad thing. Since some (much?) of the editorial staff isn’t all that invested in smoking weed, we found chomping on several candies a day is enough to chill out and roll with the punches that come with 2020.
One of the best parts about the candy flavors is their homage to Northwest staples, like Hood River pear, Oregon Coast Cranberry and southern Oregon manzanita, which we also ate. There’s something comforting about tasting local flavors when the whole state is on fire.
Sandie’s Candies are sold at various retailers online for $12 a bag. For locations or to purchase online, visit SunGodMedicinals.com.
Entangled Biome Tinctures (Energy & Immunity, Calm & Focus)
Even though not many of us had used tinctures before, we were pretty impressed after trying out a few of Entangled Biome’s tinctures, which helped improve both our mood and productivity in a world gone wild. We sampled Energy + Immunity and Calm + Focus.
The energy tincture contains a mushroom blend that allows for interesting (and perhaps unusual) ingredients such as Chaga and Cordyceps. And for calm and focus, the main ingredient is lion’s mane mushroom, with an added bonus of peppermint oil.
Though the instructions say to squirt the drops under the tongue, we were sharing among three staffers so we opted to use a spoon to be COVID-19 safe. The taste isn’t necessarily something everyone wants to savor, but the results are worth it. Energy + Immunity tasted a wee bit like patchouli smells, but the Calm + Focus had a nice pepperminty overlay.
According to the bottle, you are supposed to take two to four drops a few times a day, but we found that using the tinctures just once was pretty effective. The Energy + Immunity seems to help with a hangover-induced langor, and the Calm + Focus helped us settle and take deep breaths during the latest Level 3 evacuation.
You can purchase Entangled Biome’s wellness tinctures for $99 each at 1035 Conger Street in Eugene.
Canna-Fusion Salve
Editor Camilla Mortensen was (luckily) currently the only one on staff who might have a reason to try Canna-Fusion Salve “as needed.” She got bucked off a horse, hurt her shoulder and, despite two months of physical therapy that led her to be able to do pushups for the first time since she was in grade school, she still has pain in her arm and shoulder. Having previously tried another CBD salve without much in the way of results, she was still willing to give this one a try.
Maybe it helped that she actually followed directions and used a dime-sized amount instead of just a little coating, but the salve did improve the muscle soreness, especially at night. It also smelled nice without being overwhelming like some liniments can be.
Cheryl Marquet, who designed the salve, says she wanted something that treated inflammation and pain without psychoactive effects. In addition to cannabis, it’s infused with peppermint and lavender, which also help inflammation. The salve isn’t green and greasy, and won’t stain clothes, she says.
Canna-Fusion’s Salve is sold for $35 in Eugene at Moss Crossing on 2751 Friendly Street.
Lip Plumper ‘High on Love’
So we got an email offering a sample of CBD lip plumper that’s “designed to plump and hydrate the lips making it feel irresistibly kissable while enhancing foreplay by increasing sensitivity and exciting the intimate areas.”
It sounded great. It sounded like something that might be fun to try as a distraction in the midst of a global pandemic.
As it turns out the two women in the office who were willing to try to use the lip gloss are both single. So our review is maybe a little tainted by the whole “not used as intended” thing. Rather than for foreplay, we used it to entertain ourselves before endorsement interviews with political candidates on Zoom.
The first time, High on Love was a little overwhelming. There was a distinct, “Well, damn, this feels weird — are my lips fatter?” moment. That moment would probably be more fun in a couples situation rather than an “am I going to look weird when I talk to this City Council candidate?” situation.
But it grew on us. And the plumping feeling was kinda cool. And since we can barely work Zoom, let alone work the filter that makes us look better, glossy full lips get a thumbs up.
High on Love’s Lip Plumper is available for $22 at HighOnLove.Store.