Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy has said the Andrews government plans to regulate the use of e-cigarettes across the state.
"We're going to regulate them like they are a tobacco product and also make sure that we're not really using e-cigarettes as a starting point for people to get a habit to then start cigarettes and then get addicted to nicotine," Hennessy told the ABC.
"We don't want e-cigarettes being used to glamorise smoking by people under 18."
The changes are expected to be introduced to Victorian parliament next week. If passed, the new laws will come into effect mid-2017 and will see e-cigarettes subject to the same regulations as tobacco, according to SBS. This means e-cigarettes sales will be restricted to over 18s, and will be subject to the same sale, use and promotion bans.
The government also plans to ban smoking in outdoor dining areas.
"Ultimately we want social norms of where people smoke to change," Hennessy said.
