The sale of electronic cigarettes to minors will be an offence in NSW under a new proposal by the state government.
Health Minister Jillian Skinner announced plans on Sunday to ban the sale of e-cigarettes and e-liquid to anyone under 18 to address concerns that e-cigarettes are a gateway to nicotine addiction.
There is currently no age-restriction on the sale of e-cigarettes, Ms Skinner says.
"We want to guard against the re-normalisation of smoking among the young, as it has the potential to undermine decades of successful anti-smoking efforts in NSW," she said.
Heart Foundation NSW chief executive Kerry Doyle welcomed the proposal describing e-cigarettes as the latest fad in smoking.
"The inadequacy of current e-cigarette regulations is perhaps best highlighted by the fact that, in NSW, it is illegal to sell children cigarette-shaped lollies but not illegal to sell lolly-flavoured e-cigarettes," she said.
Ms Doyle said the lolly flavours undermined ongoing efforts to reduce smoking among young people.
She said NSW health tests in 2013 revealed 70 per cent of e-cigarette liquids contained nicotine.
"Subjecting e-cigarettes to the same regulations as regular cigarettes is the best way to ensure the hard-won reduction in smoking rates of recent years are not undermined by those peddling new smoking devices," Ms Doyle said.
The proposal will be the first piece of legislation brought to parliament if the Baird government is re-elected on March 28, Ms Skinner said.
The offence would carry the same penalties as the sale of tobacco to minors, which include fines up to $110,000.
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