Cigarettes without smoke?

Richard Horian, president of Newport Beach’s Woodleaf Corp., has been

a smoker for a quarter of a century, and though he has not kicked the

habit, he no longer lights up.

Through Woodleaf, Horian is marketing Aeros Smokeless Cigarettes.

He said he developed the devices over an eight-year period “with the

help of a lot of scientists and engineers.”

At the peak of his habit, Horian said he was a two-pack-a-day

smoker. And even with quitting techniques such as acupuncture,

hypnosis and prescription drugs, he could not give up smoking without

going through intense withdrawal patterns.

“For any smoker -- that’s a true smoker -- withdrawal’s a terrible

restriction to feel, and sometimes it’s difficult to function,”

Horian said.

Instead of quitting, Horian developed a product that he says makes

it possible for a smoker to use tobacco in public without producing

secondhand smoke. Other smokers, Horian said, could use Aeros to

reduce their tobacco intake. He did not characterize Aeros as a tool

to quit smoking and does not claim that Aeros cigarettes are

healthier than traditional cigarettes.

“I’m smoking now, and I’m enjoying the hell out of it, and I’m not

bothering you,” Horian said as he puffed on an Aeros cigarette. He

described the experience as almost the same as using a regular

cigarette, only without the smoke.

“It’s slightly different, but not much different. The hit is

instantaneous, the control is exactly like a cigarette, and the

satisfaction is like a cigarette,” he said.

Though not familiar with the specifics of Horian’s invention,

Bruce Vancil, director of health promotion for the American Cancer

Society for Orange County, said he and his group would oppose use of

a smokeless cigarette. Vancil said he was not taking a shot at any

specific manufacturer, but said that he sees a smokeless cigarette as

a possible gateway to traditional smokes.

“The quick and dirty from our side of it is, it’s probably

something we don’t want to see out there,” Vancil said.

Horian holds a patent dated Aug. 3, 2004, for the invention, which

essentially consists of a plastic tube that contains tobacco. The

U.S. Patent and Trademark office calls the tube a “volatile inhaler”

that could be used as a delivery device for nicotine or medication.

Horian said the invention could be used to treat asthma as easily as

giving a smoker a hit of nicotine.

No tobacco particulates come into contact with the smokers’ bodily

tissue, Horian said. The product is designed to allow a smoker to

puff on vapors that are naturally emitted from the tobacco inside the

tube.

Horian said he started production in late July. Wednesday, he

announced that federal regulators have approved Aeros for sale.

Art Resnick, a spokesman for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade

Bureau, said he could not confirm any details about the permit, or

whether a permit exists. He said federal law prevents that

information from being released.

Horian has started selling Aeros on the Internet. A pack of Aeros

sells for about $25 plus shipping. Horian said one Aeros cigarette

can last as long as a full pack of regular cigarettes.

This is not the first attempt to create a smokeless cigarette. The

Los Angeles Times reported that in 1989, RJR Nabisco canned plans for

smokeless cigarette called Premier. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. has since

developed a brand called Eclipse that uses heat but is not designed

to ignite tobacco.

Manufacturers maintain that Eclipse cuts secondhand smoke by 80%,

but the state of Vermont sued the manufacturers last month, alleging

RJ Reynolds failed to prove that Eclipse cigarettes are healthier

than other brands, according to published reports.

For people who want to quit smoking, Nicorette, a company best

known for nicotine gum, has a project called the Inhalator that uses

a nicotine cartridge in a tube. Like Aeros, the design allows users

to mimic the motions of smoking.

* ANDREW EDWARDS can be reached at (714) 966-4624 or at

[email protected].