It's one of a number of proposals being put forward to meet the government's goal of making New Zealand Smokefree by 2025.
Others include restricting where cigarettes can be sold and creating a licensing regime.
The government is also talking about creating a smokefree generation, where people who are under 18 next year will never be able to buy cigarettes.
Public health professor Chris Bullen said studies show at low nicotine levels, non-smokers do not get addicted and smokers cut down or quit.
Late last month the Cancer Society launched a petition calling for a significant reduction in the number of stores that are able to sell tobacco.
An University of Otago study found during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, people who felt lonely or isolated almost all the time were more than three times more likely to increase their cigarette intake than those who were never lonely.
