Dusk Might Be the First Great CBD Product

CBD is everywhere. Our inbox is proof.

The legal cannabinoid of the moment is infused within pretty much every drink, grooming product and even pet treat we’ve been pitched in the last few months.

We’ve had maddeningly unquantifiable results from testing out these products, but we can wholeheartedly recommend Dusk, a CBD sleep aid from the folks behind the elevated cannabis publication Gossamer.

Dusk was developed by Gossamer with the help of Dr. Alex Campano, the only doctorate in cannabinoid science in the country, as well as Ananda Hemp, the first licensed hemp farmer in the country. It comes in a 1-oz. bottle filled with all-natural, cold-pressed hemp-seed oil, full spectrum CBD, CBN and a blend of terpenes. In a nice touch of transparency, each bottle comes stamped with a unique lot number so you can look up the test results of your specific batch.

We tried it a couple times over the past week. While the company claims it may take a few days or a few weeks to kick in, I particularly felt it on the first night, when I zoned out in a (sober) way I hadn’t since high school. For subsequent nights, I ended up cutting the dosage by half and still experienced solid rest.

The stuff works. And we weren’t sure why, so we spoke with Gossamer co-founder David Weiner to get a better understanding of the product.

InsideHook: I’ve tried a lot of CBD products and most have failed to provide me with, well, anything. What are you doing right?
David Weiner: First, we should say that there are a bunch of companies that are, in fact, doing it right. But it’s true that few companies are as transparent as they should be. For Dusk, we spent almost two years searching for the right hemp farm to work because so few ticked every box we required. Aside from the obvious like pesticide- and GMO-free plants, we wanted to make sure we had other important things, like the most thorough testing available. While any good company will offer third-party testing results on their site or upon request, what a consumer should really be looking for is batch testing for potency, contaminant and quality. We’re proud to offer that evidence to consumers.

What about the ones that haven’t worked for me?
It’s possible that you’ve been taking CBD isolate and not full spectrum, our prefered form. A lot of products on the market are CBD isolate because that’s the only way companies can ensure it’s 100% THC-free, but this also means that you’re missing out on the “entourage effect.” CBD works best in concert with other cannabinoids and terpenes, so by isolating it, you lose a lot of its potential efficacy. Full spectrum products, like Dusk, ensure the greatest effect possible while still remaining on the right side of federal law by having less than 0.3% THC in them.

How should we be consuming CBD?
While gummies and other edibles are popular, ingesting CBD actually means you’re losing 30-40% of the its efficacy as it goes through your GI system. We purposely made Dusk a tincture because taking CBD sublingually (under the tongue) allows for both a more rapid onset and the skipping of “first pass metabolism.” So that CBD latte might seem tempting, but it’s really kind of a fakeout. Not only do you generally have no idea how much or what quality CBD your barista is putting in there, you’re not going to get anywhere near its full effect to begin with.

That said, we’ve tried some CBD-infused drinks that we like very much, we’re just not sure what the true effect of these are. Same with edibles and gummies and things of that nature. People do swear by some of the muscle creams and balms (I use one myself at times), and there have been amazing leaps in transdermal science that help ensure you’re actually getting something out of these products.The bottom line is there are many different ways to take CBD, but you just need to be cognizant of dosing.

Does the CBD industry need more regulation?
It’s funny, the answer is definitely yes, but on the other hand it’s because of overzealous regulation and laws that we’re so much further behind on the science of cannabis than we should be. There definitely need to be greater regulations and transparency around consumer products, but we’re also big believers that the federal government needs to continue to do away with rules hamstringing research. But the answer is yes: there’s too much garbage and noise out there and it’s both potentially harmful to consumers and to the industry at large.

When did you know CBD was going to be a big deal?
I can’t say we predicted that you’d be seeing it on every street corner and in every gas station, but based on our experiences and research, we had a strong feeling the market would explode. Since launching Gossamer, and even before, people have been asking us for recommendations and all sorts of questions related to CBD, especially regarding sleep. At some point we realized there was a lack of digestible and clear information and products, and that we were in a somewhat unique position to create something that could cut through the clutter and be backed by science. We only wanted to release something if we felt like it was different and not just adding to the noise.