Marijuana-scented mobile phone covers have been removed from a trade fair in Sydney, after a politician complained that they promoted drug use.

The organisers of the CeBIT technology fair decided to take action after New South Wales state Premier Bob Carr said that "anything that suggests the normalisation of a mind-altering drug like marijuana, and its promotion to young people, is regrettable".

Robert Punch, the owner of Corporate Phone Covers, said Mr Carr's comments were a "big over-reaction".

"I was a little bit surprised," he said. "It was supposed to be good fun."

He insisted that the phone covers were just a novelty item, and would not encourage people to try marijuana.

"You wouldn't go and buy a big block of chocolate after smelling the chocolate one," he told Reuters news agency.

Mr Punch said the phone covers had "high quality marijuana smoke" impregnated into their fabric.

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