Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect new information.
California-based Puffco, a vaping hardware company widely known in the cannabis world, announced the company was “temporarily shutting down” its Puffco.com website yesterday in an email message to consumers.
The message read:
A similar message appeared on the company’s website.
The temporary shutdown represents the first high-profile reaction to the U.S. Postal Service’s recently installed ban on the commercial shipping of all vaping devices nationwide. Leafly published a full analysis of that action in this article.
One Puffco.com customer reported receiving an order delivery earlier this month, and the experience may hint at the challenges the company faces. “A person showed up in a regular car, knocked on my door, and I had to sign a slip for the package,” the customer told Leafly. “The delivery person had no uniform or any indication they worked for a delivery company. The item came in a plain manila mailer, and inside was the Puffco-branded packing. It was from a delivery company whose name I’d ever heard before.”
Puffco’s products are known and highly respected in the cannabis industry. The company’s Puffco Peak set the standard for e-rigs and opened the world of concentrates to many curious consumers.
It was initially unclear whether Tuesday’s announcement involved a temporary shutdown of the entire company and product line, or just a halting of orders taken via Puffco.com.
Company officials, reached late Wednesday, said the current situation involves the temporary halting of orders taken via Puffco.com, and not a closure of the entire company. Puffco products are still available at independent brick-and-mortar cannabis and accessory stores.
For now, though, Puffco fans may want to treat their devices with extra care. They may become rare collector’s items.
