Top Takeaways:
- E-cigarette distributors in Wisconsin are challenging a state law requiring FDA authorization, claiming it jeopardizes their businesses and consumer access.
- Under the law, retailers face fines up to $1,000 per day for selling unlisted products, with a public registry set to launch in September.
- Plaintiffs argue the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy and Equal Protection Clauses, and could drive former smokers back to combustible cigarettes.
A coalition of Wisconsin-based e-cigarette distributors has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new state law that mandates marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for e-cigarette products.
The law, passed in late 2023 and in effect since July 1, requires manufacturers to register their products with the Department of Revenue, ofetn refered to as a vape registry bill. Retailers face $1,000-per-day fines starting September if they sell devices not on the official state directory.
The lawsuit, filed on June 30 by Wisconsinites for Alternatives to Smoking & Tobacco (WATTS), seeks a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement. Supply Plus—along with other local vape shops in Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and Jackson—are among the named plaintiffs.
“This law threatens to eliminate basically everything that we sell in the nicotine and vaping realm,” said David Beaupre, president of Supply Plus
“It’s going to put us out of business.” Supporting his argument, Beaurpre warned that consumers might return to combustible cigarettes if their preferred vape products vanish.
Central to the legal challenge are claims that Wisconsin’s law infringes upon the Supremacy Clause by overruling FDA authority and violates Equal Protection by discriminating against select vaping products.
Eric Heyer, the plaintiffs’ lead counsel, previously secured a similar injunction in Iowa, where a near-identical law was initially blocked in May.
The law emerges amid significant delays in FDA premarket tobacco approvals. While thousands of e-cigarette brands remain in limbo, Wisconsin joins 14 other states with comparable listing laws; Iowa’s version is currently under judicial review.
The plaintiffs will argue their case ahead of a July 30 hearing in U.S. District Court in Madison .
