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Puffco’s CEO on the Simpler, Safer, and More Flavorful Way to Experience Cannabis: Dabbing Goes Mainstream

Dabbing used to feel like a torch-lit test of tolerance. Puffco’s Roger Volodarsky says the category is finally becoming more approachable.

By Maha Haq | Reviewed by Ysolt Usigan

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For a long time, dabbing felt like the least beginner-friendly way to consume cannabis.

It meant a torch, a rig, a hot nail, some timing, and at least one person in the room acting like this was all very normal. It had a reputation for being the most intense way to consume cannabis, partly because concentrates are potent, and partly because the setup made the whole thing feel like you needed an advanced degree in hash culture just to participate.

That reputation was not totally unfair. Traditional dabbing had a learning curve. Heat the nail too much and you could scorch the concentrate. Use too much and you might spend the next 20 minutes wondering if your lungs collapsed. Even if you were curious, the ritual itself made dabbing feel like something for people who already knew what they were doing.

But that is not the only version of dabbing anymore.

Better devices, more refined concentrates, and less confusing gear have made concentrates easier to approach without turning them into something they are not. Dabs are still strong. A little still goes a long way. But the experience can now be more controlled, more flavorful, and much less chaotic than the torch-and-guess era made it seem.

Ahead of 7/10, or OIL Day, the holiday for cannabis oils, concentrates, and hash, VICE exclusively spoke with Roger Volodarsky, founder and CEO of Puffco, about what people still get wrong about dabbing, why hash is becoming more accessible, and how one of cannabis’ most gatekept consumption methods became a lot easier to get into.

The Biggest Misunderstanding About Dabbing

Dabbing carried a very specific reputation: huge hits, high tolerance, and the kind of expensive, heady setup that made beginners feel like they had already missed the tutorial.

Volodarsky says that reputation misses what a lot of concentrate consumers are actually looking for now.

“The biggest misconception is that dabbing is about getting as high as possible, as fast as possible. That idea is outdated. Today, people are discovering that hash can be one of the most flavorful, nuanced, and controllable ways to experience cannabis.”

That does not mean dabs stopped being strong. Concentrates are still potent, and overdoing it is still very possible. But the category has grown beyond shock-value hits and getting wrecked for the sake of getting wrecked. For a lot of consumers, the appeal is flavor, control, texture, and getting a clearer sense of the concentrate itself and the strain or cultivar behind it.

For Volodarsky, Puffco’s role has been tied to removing the parts of dabbing that made people hesitate in the first place.

“A decade ago, dabbing meant torches and red-hot nails, an intense, intimidating entry point that reinforced that stereotype,” he says. “What’s changed is both the technology and the understanding of the plant. Here at Puffco, we have played a major role in shifting that perception by removing the barriers and helping people experience hash in the way it’s meant to be enjoyed: intentionally, with control, and with an emphasis on flavor and quality over intensity.”

That is probably the cleanest way to understand the modern dab category. The goal is not to make concentrates feel less potent than they already are. It is to make the experience less chaotic, so the consumer can actually notice what they are........

© Vice