<div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-12 col-md-12 col-lg-12 div_news_01">The e-cigarette will be tested in Auckland next year to see if it is worth releasing in New Zealand.</div>
        <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-12 col-md-12 col-lg-12 div_news_02">The e-cigarette will be tested in Auckland next year to see if it is worth releasing in New Zealand.<br />
Smokers can puff legally at indoor bars and cafes with a battery-powered &quot;electronic cigarette&quot; because its nicotine hit comes in a vapour.
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	The Ministry of Health has confirmed that using the device would not breach the Smokefree Environments Act, which extended workplace smoking bans.</p>
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	Lyttelton health researcher Dr Murray Laugesen is involved in safety tests of the product - which has a glowing tip to emulate real cigarettes - for the China-based company that makes it.</p>
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	He said the company would decide after the safety tests and a clinical trial in Auckland early next year whether to apply to sell it in New Zealand. The ministry had ruled it would need to be registered as a medicine first.</p>
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	The Ruyan e-cigarette device is available on-line for US$208 ($270) - the price of about 22 packets of Holiday 25s - and the nicotine inserts cost around $2 a day.</p>
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	Auckland University&#39;s clinical trials research unit will next year test the device, with funding from the maker, to see how quickly it delivers nicotine into the smoker&#39;s bloodstream and whether it reduces cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It will be compared with a nicotine inhaler and placebo versions of both devices.</p>
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	AdvertisementResearchers hope in future</p>
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