Smoke shop fined almost $13 million under Wisconsin’s new vape law
The state of Wisconsin fined one retailer nearly $13 million and another $450,000 for violating a law restricting e-cigarette sales that went into effect in September. being challenged in the appeals court.
Exclusive Tobacco, a four-store chain in Oshkosh, was fined twice in October for selling products not listed on this site. state’s approved listAllowing select brands like Juul, Blu, Vuse, and Crossbar.
The state Department of Revenue received complaints that the Oshkosh store was selling illegal items. DOR inspected Exclusive Tobacco and found that it was selling electronic cigarettes and tobacco products with an expired municipal license.
DOR later seized all the products, including 1,244 illegal e-cigarettes. The new law imposes a daily fine of $1,000 for each device not included in the state guidance, for a total of $1,244,000.
A copy of the fine reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel showed that the fine was multiplied by 10 for the 10 days between the warning and the time the DOR returned to seize the products, leaving Exclusive Tobacco now owing the state more than $12.4 million.
DOR later received another complaint that the Oshkosh store continued to sell illegal e-cigarettes; This led to a second investigation and a $431,000 fine.
Exclusive Tobacco is appealing both penalties, DOR spokeswoman Jennifer Bacon told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The DOR also fined a second retailer in Green Bay, Dave’z Smoke N Vape LLC, $450,000, which was also found to be selling without a city license. Neither store responded to interview requests.
DOR also issued 42 orders to remove illegal items to other stores and conducted 27 seizures; two of these involved retailers selling without a municipal license.
in the first weeks after the law came into force on September 1The DOR did not impose fines or seize illegal products to give retailers time to comply with the rules. Bacon said the department is following up enforcement procedures It was established in the 2023 law.
Bacon said expired licenses do not affect fine amounts, but instead trigger the removal of all cigarettes, tobacco and e-cigarettes. Instead, the penalties were based on retailers selling e-cigarettes. 303 products permitted by the government.
Appeal case continues as vape shops must adapt or close
Most e-cigarette stores have adapted by clearing their stock of now-illegal products and relying on other sales to make up for the loss.
But they’re still holding out hope for a court ruling that could repeal the law and bring more products back to shelves.
U.S. District Court Judge William Conley in September The request to block the law was rejected. Wisconsinites for Alternatives to Cigarettes and Tobacco, one of the industry plaintiffs, appealed the decision. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago Oral arguments are scheduled to be heard on December 10..
Tyler Hall, president of WiscoFAST and Johnny Vapes, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a decision is expected in late January.
Similar cases have mixed results: Federal court blocked Iowa’s e-cigarette guide law If in May Utah’s was approved in March.
Hall and other e-cigarette store owners argue that major tobacco companies lobbied for the law to drive competitors out of the market. Wisconsin lobbying records show this happened in 2023 and experts saw the same trend Play in other states.
Public health advocates also The question of whether the approach is effective Because the law removed some products from the shelves but made others accessible, including to young people.
State officials defended the law as a “measured approach” to respond to the rapidly growing industry while balancing public safety.
Xtreme Vape, formerly located at 2242 Neva Road in Antigo, is closing because of the new vaping law, owner George Packard said. A “space for rent” sign is displayed at the facility on October 11.
Milwaukee-area smoke shop owners and employees interviewed in October said the bulk of their sales were in hemp-based products, so the e-cigarette law had a limited impact on their business. Still, they were worried about upcoming state regulations and a new regulation. Sudden federal law change will soon ban these productsmore.
More: As confusion continues, how are Milwaukee smoke shops handling Wisconsin’s new vaping law?
Other stores were not so lucky. George Packard, whose Antigo store made 90% of its sales through e-cigarettes, closed after the district court allowed the law to take effect.
“We had six employees and every single one of them lost their jobs,” Packard said.
Even if the industry’s call is successful, Packard has no plans to reopen. The space will be leased to another tenant and his employees will have found other jobs.
“It took three days to tear down the store. We’ve got $40,000 worth of stuff we probably can’t do anything with,” he told the Journal Sentinel in early October. “We can’t sell it because it’s illegal.”
Hopefully Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@gannett.com.
This article first appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Exclusive Tobacco fined almost $13 million under Wisconsin e-cigarette law
