Cigarettes could be banned in Melbourne if one councillor's plan for the entire CBD to go smoke-free is approved.

Bourke Street Mall is set to ban smoking on Friday but Melbourne councillor, Beverley Pinder wants the laws to affect the whole city.

She hopes her proposed ban would lead to fewer people dying from smoking-related illnesses, which cause 15,000 deaths in Australia a year.

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Cigarettes could be banned in Melbourne as one councillor pushes for the entire CBD to go smoke-free (file image)

'I envisage a CBD area that is smoke free,' Cr Pinder told 3AW.

'Smoke free areas will be considered based on a number of factors including pedestrian traffic and existing smoking issues and restrictions.'

She added that smokers are not the only people at risk.

'It's impacting on a whole range of people around them not just themselves,' Cr Pinder said.

Councillor Pinder said there may be an option for special smoking zones in some 'high stress areas' such as outside courts and hospitals.

She said the plan would not include other forms of smoking such as vaping or using e-cigarettes, but this could be included further down the track.

Cr Pinder said the proposal received huge support from the public with 40 per cent of smokers even admitting it would encourage them to quit.

Melbourne's CBD currently has 11 smoke free areas.

Councillor Pinder said the plan received huge support from the public with 40 per cent of smokers even admitting it would encourage them to quit (file image)

Those who continue to smoke in these zones could face a $100 penalty but councilors have said they won't be handing out fines for a few months.

The news comes as researchers at James Cook University push for warning labels to be printed on cigarettes, saying the images of rotting lungs and teeth had lost their shock value.

Dr Aaron Drovandi said messages on individual cigarettes, which could also target the financial consequences of smoking, were more effective than package warnings.

He said warnings around short-term health and non-health related consequences of tobacco use were more likely to prompt positive changes in smoking behaviour.