There’s criticism over the decision to ban e-cigarettes from certain areas, with experts insisting they don’t pose the same risk as normal cigarettes.

People ‘vaping’ in outdoor dining areas and within four metres of entries to public buildings could be fined $550.

NSW University Associate Professor Colin Mendelsohn tells Alan Jones how e-cigarettes work and why they’re key in the fight against smoking-related deaths.

“It’s a battery operated device that heats a nicotine liquid into a vapour.

“So it gives you the nicotine in an aerosol but without the smoke. The important thing is there’s no combustion.

“What kills people is the smoke from cigarettes. When you burn tobacco you get 7,000 chemicals.”

Click PLAY below for the full interview