CBD Experiences: Dave Fausset [Part 1]

​My experiences within the CBD and hemp industry have been inspirational. I have heard so many moving stories about how CBD has significantly impacted people’s lives. This has been from those close to me and those that have reached out online. These experiences have led me to create a regular series that focuses on different experiences people have had with the cannabis plant. These stories will be both inspirational and informational. The series will be written or recorded as a podcast. I hope you enjoy!

On this series, I will be interviewing Dave Fausset. He is the Founder and Co-Owner of AP Sleeping Indian. AP Sleeping Indian makes full spectrum CBD tinctures, salve, and body butter that are hemp derived. All of the products have been grown and processed in Allenspark, CO. Dave began using CBD out of necessity. After sustaining a major injury, he was naturally drawn to CBD. He soon began making his own CBD products which has now turned in to AP Sleeping Indian. I don’t want to give away all the information in the interview, so I hope you enjoy Dave’s interview below.




Background

• Sean: Why did you decide to live in Colorado?  

 

• Dave: I was transferred to Denver by the company I was working for.

• Sean: What were you doing prior to starting AP Sleeping Indian?

 

• Dave: I had been watching what was happening in Canada and their hemp program for several years and studying methods of growing, fiber products, and cbd plants.  The people of Colorado passed a law authorizing the growing and use of hemp, so I began helping farmers with site descriptions, seeds, water, and fertilization programs.

CBD

• Sean: From my understanding, you sustained a serious injury. When did this happen?  

 

• Dave: In 1985 I slipped and fell from a roof, landing on my back on a paved driveway.  I broke my back, some ribs, collapsed a lung, had multitude of cuts, bruises and crush a nerve in my right butt. The crushed nerve caused the greatest problem in the long run. I took some painkillers for a while and then switched to Tylenol.  

 

• Sean: Did you begin taking CBD immediately following the accident?  

 

• Dave: No, hemp was against the law for about 24 years, so I took whatever I could.

• Sean: From my understanding, you were prescribed opioid pain medication after the injury. What caused you to make the switch to using CBD?  

 

• Dave: At first, I was taking opioids and didn’t like the effect so I switched to Tylenol until my doctor found out I was taking 15 double strength pills a day. He put me on a mild opiate and I took that for a few years.

• Sean: Why did you decide to start making your own CBD?  

 

• Dave: In order to avoid addiction, I would switch back to Tylenol every now and then, but I thought there had to be a better way. I had heard CBD was good for pain, so I decided I would try it to see if it would help reduce the pain. After a few weeks, I began to notice some relief and continued the tincture. At about 5 months, I swung my legs out of bed and was stunned to discover NO PAIN! At first, I thought it was a combination of the medicine and the hemp, but when I checked the bottle of opiates, I discovered there was only about 30 gone from the Rx and well over 300 left.

AP Sleeping Indian

• Sean: When did you realize that you were making a quality CBD product?

 

• Dave: In 2015 I began to have some of my own flower. I had some of it processed into crude and began working with that.  People began noticing my hair was growing back and several people got excited about the hair growth.

• Sean: Did you start out small? Were you just selling the tincture to family and friends?
• Dave: I had no intention of making a usable product for others, but friends noticed I was walking much better and my limp was completely gone. People kept asking where they could get CBD, and, after a few months, it just made sense for me to make the product to help friends and family. As time passed the friends would refer people, and I began spending more and more time with turning plants into tincture and capsules (my wife didn’t like the taste of the hemp, but wanted the benefits).  Sometime along the way, I discovered I was much more relaxed and things didn’t bother me as they had. Other little things began to happen as I tried different things. First, it was nasty moles that I began applying a beeswax hemp mixture to, and, to my surprise, some of the moles would dry and fall off. Scars just began to fade and the last thing that happened was going to the eye doctor for my glaucoma check. After I did the test, I told him I didn’t think I had done that well. He checked the chart and told me my eyes were better than last year.  He looked farther back and kept looking and his final report was that my eyes had improved to what they had been 9 years ago. I know there have been no studies done, but I can just report on things that happened to me.

• Sean: When did you meet Gary Anderson? (Co-Owner of AP Sleeping Indian)

 

• Dave: Gary and I met in Alamosa, CO at a hemp conference and continued to see each other a few times a year.  During that time, I began to have more requests for my products so I started the business.

• Sean: Why did you decide to start an “official” CBD company?

 

• Dave: Didn’t really decide, it just seemed to evolve as demand grew and it was spreading to people I didn’t even know.  Last fall, Gary and I were talking and it seemed natural we should join forces as I had developed more business that I was comfortable with servicing. That’s when we had the idea for a company that would provide help for people and perhaps make a little money. We found we had similar goals and I needed the help. Nothing really exciting, it just happened. I’ve always found when things are right, they just happen, without anyone making a special effort to change the world.

---