Wisconsin's New Vape Law: What You Need to Know

As of late summer 2025, a new law is set to significantly change the landscape for all vaping products sold in our state. This new regulation is designed to enhance consumer safety by removing untested and illicit products from store shelves. Whether you use nicotine vapes or hemp-derived vapes, this law will affect what you see in stores. Here’s a simple, easy-to-understand guide to what’s changing.

The Biggest Change: A State "Do-Not-Sell" List

The core of the new law is the creation of an official state directory, often called a "PMTA Registry". Think of it as a master list of every single vaping product that is legal to be sold in Wisconsin.

The new rule is simple: If a vape product is not on the state's official list, it will be illegal for any store in Wisconsin to sell it.

The goal is to clear the shelves of questionable products and ensure that what remains has met a specific set of safety and regulatory standards.

Many products (especially nicotine vapes) are manufactured and shipped in directly from overseas, with China being the largest manufacturer of nicotine vape devices in the world. Unfortunately as it currently stands these devices require no testing within the state to be sold, so the law aims to change this for a better and safer experience.

How the Law Affects Nicotine Vapes

For vapes containing nicotine, the rules are becoming very strict, very quickly.

• What's Required: To get on the legal-to-sell list, a nicotine vape must have already received a marketing authorization order from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through their rigorous Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA) process.
• The Timeline: This is happening fast. The ban on selling unlisted nicotine products begins on September 1, 2025.
• What It Means for You: You can expect to see a lot fewer nicotine vape options on the shelves, especially many of the disposable flavored products that have not gone through the formal FDA review process. The aim is that the products remaining will be those that have been properly vetted at the federal level.

How the Law Affects Hemp & Cannabis Vapes (This is a Big Deal!)

This is where the law gets particularly interesting and, in our view, a good, all-be-it small first step. Lawmakers recognized that hemp vapes are fundamentally different from nicotine products and created a separate, sensible path for them to be sold legally and safely.

• A Specific Category: The law creates a distinct definition for vapes that contain hemp (as defined by Wisconsin law) and contain NO nicotine.
• The Requirement: Instead of impossible-to-get FDA tobacco approvals, hemp vape manufacturers must provide a Certificate of Analysis (COA) from an independent, third-party lab. This lab report must prove that the product contains hemp and is free of nicotine. Unfortunately this current testing standard only requires a potency test and a test showing zero nicotine in the device. We would have preferred if they aligned with our testing standard and also required testing to show that no heavy metals, mold, toxins, and solvents are in the end product; this is the current testing standard we require for every product sold at Ethereal Gold Dispensary.
• The Timeline: To give the industry time to adapt, hemp vape manufacturers have an extra year to comply. The rules for hemp vapes go into effect on July 1, 2026.
• What It Means for You: This is a small victory for consumer safety. This law will force every gas station, smoke shop, and vape store in Wisconsin to adhere to at least the bare minimum of standards that Ethereal Gold Dispensary has championed since day one. It will no longer be legal to sell a hemp vape product without a legitimate lab test to back it up.

The Penalties: This Law Has Teeth

To ensure these rules are followed, the state has put significant penalties in place. Any retailer or manufacturer caught selling a vape product that isn't on the official state directory after the deadlines will face a steep forfeiture of $1,000 per day for each illegal product. (That's $1000 per device per day. Not $1000 per day per SKU.)

Our Opinion: We Fully Support This Law

At Ethereal Gold Dispensary, we are thrilled with this new legislation. For years, we have been the industry leaders in advocating for and implementing the highest safety standards. Our commitment to full panel lab testing for all of our products has always been our promise to you. This new law essentially takes the first step at working towards the Ethereal Gold Standard and makes it the mandatory minimum for every hemp vape sold in Wisconsin.

This will lead to a safer, more transparent market for adults. It will force irresponsible sellers who stock untested or mislabeled products to either clean up their act or get out of the business. You can continue to shop our selection of fully compliant vapes with the absolute confidence that our products already meet and exceed these upcoming state requirements.

A Safer Wisconsin for All

This new vape law is a monumental step forward for public health and consumer protection in Wisconsin. It distinguishes between nicotine and hemp, establishes sensible requirements for each, and brings much-needed accountability to the market. We are proud to have been ahead of the curve and will continue to support policies that prioritize your safety.

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