MUSKEGO — When you walk into Cloud X in Muskego, you'll find cigarettes, nicotine pouch products, cigars and other items. But what you'll have a hard time discovering are vape devices and products.
"That's basically our main item in our store, vape products," Tajammul 'TJ' Syed said.
Those products make up a majority of owner TJ Syed's sales and are the most popular in his store. Now he's left with just a few.
"Pretty much everything is gone," Syed said.
This is due to a state law (Wisconsin Statute 995.15) now in effect that requires owners like TJ to only sell products that fall on the Wisconsin Department of Revenue list of approved items or face a $1,000 fine per day per item. A total of 216 items are on the list, but Syed said only a handful of companies make up that list.
Any device being sold that is not on the list would be considered illegal.
Watch: State vape law in effect leaves shop owners in limbo as they await lawsuit decision
Syed says a majority of his customers use it to quit cigarettes.
"There's a reason people buy it, you know, because it is helping them. You know, it's much better than a regular cigarette," Syed said.
The law was passed in 2023 to address, in part, a rise in youth vaping and eliminate potentially dangerous products. It was a part of a comprehensive Department of Revenue enforcement package (Act 73). The act received bipartisan support.
But both Syed and Ali Ali, who owns Buma Smoke Shop in Waukesha, tell TMJ4 they didn't find out about the law until this June through a letter.
"Now, it becomes real. Now, it becomes nerve-wracking, but now it's actually, you're facing the problem," Ali said.
However, these owners aren't getting rid of their products just yet. They're awaiting a judge's decision on a lawsuit (Wisconsinites for Alternatives to Smoking and Tobacco (WiscoFAST) v. Wisconsin Department of Revenue) filed this summer, arguing that the FDA is only allowed to enforce these rules, not the state, and that this law treats different vaping companies unfairly, ultimately hurting small businesses.
"In a month or two, that's where, like, okay, how are we going to pay the employees? How are we going to pay, you know, we have a five-year, six-year minimum lease on this place. How are we going to be able to pay, you know, three more years of it?" Ali said.
Both shop owners hope the judge will make a decision this week.
On Monday, customers walked into both stores asking for certain products that have now been removed. Both Syed and Ali have been told by customers that some will travel across state lines to get their products or revert back to smoking cigarettes.
According to the Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue, electronic vaping devices that contain hemp and do not contain nicotine are not required to be on the list until July 1, 2026.
This story was reported on-air by Mike Beiermeister and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
