Dec. 10, 2025, 5:03 a.m. CT
In the first three months after Wisconsin’s new vape law took effect, the Department of Revenue has issued more than $13 million in fines to two retailers, handed out 42 orders to remove illegal products at other stores and carried out 27 seizures of unauthorized vapes. Oral arguments over the 2023 law are set for Dec. 10, and a decision is expected in late January.
The state fined one retailer nearly $13 million and another $450,000 for violating the law that began Sept. 1 and is now being challenged in appeals court.
Exclusive Tobacco, a four-store chain with a location in Oshkosh, was hit with two fines in October for selling products not on the state’s approved list, which allows only certain brands such as Juul, Blu, Vuse and Crossbar.
After receiving complaints, the Department of Revenue inspected the Oshkosh store and found it was selling vapes and tobacco products with an expired municipal license. Officials seized all products, including 1,244 illegal vapes. The law carries a $1,000 daily fine for each device not on the state directory, which amounted to $1,244,000.
A copy of the fine reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows that amount was multiplied by 10 — covering the 10 days between the department’s warning and the return to seize products — producing a bill of more than $12.4 million now owed by Exclusive Tobacco.
The department later received another complaint that the Oshkosh location continued selling illegal vapes, prompting a second inspection and a separate fine of $431,000. Exclusive Tobacco is appealing both fines, DOR spokeswoman Jennifer Bacon told the Journal Sentinel.
The DOR also fined a second retailer, Dave’z Smoke N Vape LLC in Green Bay, $450,000 for selling without a municipal license. Neither store responded to interview requests.
Beyond those fines, the department issued 42 removal orders to other stores and conducted 27 seizures, two of which involved retailers operating without municipal licenses.
When the law took effect, the DOR initially paused enforcement — no fines or seizures in the opening weeks — to give retailers time to comply. Bacon said the department is now following the enforcement procedures spelled out in the 2023 law.
She added that the expired municipal licenses triggered the removal of all cigarettes, tobacco and vapes, but did not affect how fines were calculated. The penalties were based on sales of products that aren’t among the 303 items the state permits.
Appeal underway as stores adapt or close
Most vape shops have adapted, clearing now-illegal products from shelves and relying on other sales. Many remain hopeful, though, that a court could strike down the law and restore more products to inventory.
In September, U.S. District Judge William Conley denied a request to block the law. The industry plaintiff, Wisconsinites for Alternatives to Smoking and Tobacco, appealed that decision. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago will hear oral arguments Dec. 10; a ruling is expected in late January, Tyler Hall, president of WiscoFAST and Johnny Vapes, told the Journal Sentinel.
Similar lawsuits have produced mixed results elsewhere: a federal court blocked Iowa’s vape directory law in May, while Utah’s was upheld in March.
Hall and other store owners say big tobacco companies lobbied for the law to squeeze competitors. Wisconsin lobbying records show such activity in 2023, and experts say the same pattern has occurred in other states. Public health advocates question whether the approach is effective, noting the law removed some products but left others accessible, including to teens. State officials defend the policy as a measured response to a rapidly growing industry while balancing public safety.
Locally, several Milwaukee-area shop owners told the Journal Sentinel in October that most of their sales come from hemp-based products, so the vape law had limited impact on their businesses. Still, they worry that impending state regulations and a sudden federal change could ban those items as well.
Others have not fared as well. George Packard, whose Antigo store relied on vapes for 90% of sales, closed after the district court allowed the law to take effect.
“We had six employees, and every one of them lost his job,” Packard said. Even if the appeal succeeds, he doesn’t expect to reopen: the space will be rented out and his former employees will have moved on. “It took three days to tear that store apart. We’re sitting on probably $40,000 in merchandise that we can’t do anything with,” he told the Journal Sentinel in early October. “We can’t sell it, because it’s illegal.”
Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@gannett.com.
This article was adapted from an original report published on jsonline.com. All rights belong to the original publisher.