The Australian government will ban e-cigarettes, especially among teenagers, under the biggest tobacco reforms in more than a decade.
Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said on Tuesday it had become a major problem in secondary schools and a growing problem in primary schools, but acknowledged the products have a therapeutic use in the right circumstances.
E-cigarettes have been widely touted as an alternative to smoking and a product to help smokers quit, but instead, teenagers and even young children are increasingly addicted.
Announcing the new regulations, Butler said e-cigarettes would be banned from import and require packaging similar to pharmaceuticals, intended to be sold as products intended only to help smokers quit.