Under-18s in England are to be banned from buying electronic cigarettes, the government has announced.
Experts say it is not yet known what harm the tobacco-free devices could inflict and that their contents could be damaging young people's health.
An estimated 1.3m people in the UK use e-cigarettes which were designed to help smokers quit.
Ministers also plan to make it illegal for adults to buy traditional cigarettes for anyone under 18.
'Irresponsible adults'
They want to crack down on the number of young people smoking by bringing the law in line with restrictions on the sale of alcohol.
The new rules could be in force by the autumn and may mean anyone caught buying cigarettes for a child could be given a ￡50 fixed penalty notice or a fine of up to ￡2,500.
"We must do all we can to help children lead a healthy life," Public Health Minister Jane Ellison said.
"That's why this measure is designed to help protect children from the dangers of being bought cigarettes by irresponsible adults - something that I hope concerned parents and responsible retailers will welcome."
Some 41% of 15-year-olds who smoke say they usually buy their cigarettes from someone else, rather than from a shop, according to Department of Health figures.
But while smoking rates have fallen to their lowest ever level, experts fear the electronic substitutes could be encouraging teenagers to take up the habit.
E-cigarettes, popular with teenagers, deliver a hit of nicotine and emit water vapour to mimic the feeling and look of smoking.
"We do not yet know the harm that e-cigarettes can cause to adults let alone to children, but we do know they are not risk free," Prof Dame Sally Davies, England's chief medical officer, said.
"E-cigarettes can produce toxic chemicals and the amount of nicotine and other chemical constituents and contaminants, including vaporised flavourings, varies between products meaning they could be extremely damaging to young people's health."
Car boot ban
The UK currently has few restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes, despite moves in some countries to ban them.
Restrictions have recently been mooted in Scotland and Wales, where health policy is a devolved issue.
The law change for England will be introduced in Parliament this week as an amendment to the Children and Families Bill.
Anti-smoking charity Ash welcomed the changes but chief executive Deborah Arnott added: "We'd also like to see a retail licensing system put in place so that cigarettes could only legally be sold in shops, not in car boot sales and markets."
Smoking remains one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK with around 100,000 people dying each year from illnesses linked to the habit.
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英国政府宣布，禁止18岁以下的未成年人买电子烟。
专家称至今还不清楚这种装置会带来什么危害，也不清楚里面的成分是否有害年轻人的健康。
大约有130万英国人吸电子烟，因为电子烟旨在帮助吸烟的人戒烟。
部长们正计划将成年人给18岁以下的未成年人买传统香烟定为非法。
“不负责任的成年人”
他们希望这条法律能与限制销售酒的法令配合使用，以减少年轻人吸烟的数量。
这项新规定将从秋天起施行，这可能意味着只要被抓到买香烟给孩子的，任何人都将被罚款50英镑，更高的或将达到2500英镑。
公共健康部长简·埃尔森表示，“我们会尽一切可能帮助孩子过上健康的生活。”
“一些不负责任的成年人会给孩子买烟，这也是为什么这项措施旨在帮助孩子脱离危险。我希望这项法令将会得到那些关心孩子成长的父母和负责任的零售商的积极响应。”
根据健康部门的数据显示，约有41%的15岁吸烟者称，他们通常从其他人手里买到烟，而不是从商店买的。
但是，尽管吸烟的比率已经降到了最低点，专家们仍然担心香烟的替代品会使青少年染上吸烟的习惯。
电子烟在青少年当中颇为流行，电子烟会释放出含有尼古丁成分的雾气以模仿出吸烟的的感觉和样子。
英国医疗部门长官戴姆·莎莉·戴维斯表示，“我们还不清楚电子烟将会给成年人带来什么样的危害，更不用说会对孩子们的危害了。但是我们确信，电子烟的确是有危害的。”
“电子烟会产生有毒的化学物质，一定量的尼古丁以及其他的化学成分和污染物，包括汽化的香料。产品不同，产生的有毒物质也有变化。但是这些有毒物质将会给青少年的健康带来极大的危害。”
跳蚤市场禁令
尽管在一些国家有禁止使用电子烟的措施，但当前英国缺乏一些法令以限制使用电子烟，
近来，在苏格兰和威尔士的这些禁令还处于悬而未决的状态，在这两个地方健康政策通常是权力下放的话题。
本周，英国议会将会讨论这项法令，作为对《儿童和家庭法》的修改。
反吸烟慈善组织的阿什赞成这一变化，但是行政长官戴博若·阿诺特补充说，“我们希望看到把零售许可证制度落实到位，这样只有商店零售烟才是合法的，在跳蚤市场售烟即是违法行为。”
在英国，每年都有大约10万人死于由吸烟引起的疾病，所以吸烟仍然是死亡和疾病的最主要原因之一。