Wisconsin industry fighting back against vape/e-cigarette ban

Businesses from around Wisconsin, including some from right here in Fond du Lac are part of a federal lawsuit filed to stop Wisconsin’s vaping ban.

Wisconsinites for Alternatives to Smoking and Tobacco, Inc. , also known as WiscoFAST, joined by thousands of Wisconsin businesses and consumers, filed a lawsuit last week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, to block a Wisconsin statute which is a state-wide ban on vaping.

The law directs the Wisconsin Department of Revenue to impose fines on manufacturers and sellers of e-cigarettes and vape products that lack U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing authorization.

Zach Rozenboom, owner-operator of The Supply Plus store in Fond du Lac which has a heavy inventory of e-cigarette and vape products spoke with KFIZ about the lawsuit. He says the FDA hasn’t approved any independent vapor products to date and that the only products approved are from large tobacco companies. So here in Wisconsin we are fighting the ban as most of the industry is made up of independent retailers and this state law would eliminate almost all options on the market.

Rozenboom goes on to say this law is going to drive the local consumers of vape products back to cigarettes.

Because giant corporations like cigarette companies are lobbied behind the law, Rozenboom says the whole purpose of passing this law was to get people back to smoking cigarettes.

WiscoFAST is suing on constitutional grounds alleging that the state is superseding the FDAs regulations by putting the requirement in place.

WiscoFAST has filed a preliminary injunction to get a hold put on the new rules, but Rozenboom says if the injunction doesn’t go through by September 1st, The Suppy Plus store and others in the state like it, would have to remove all products from their shelves.