<p>Shaped like a cigarette, the inhaler doesn't contain tobacco or burn when one puffs it, meaning it won't pollute the lungs with carcinogenic tar, the researchers said.<br /><br />The "nicotine delivery" device which will look, feel, and taste exactly the same as a normal cigarette, was designed by inventor Alex Hearn, a 28-year old Oxford graduate.<br /><br />Hearn's invention has earned the backing of many wealthy investors as well as a licensing deal with British American Tobacco (BAT), maker of popular brands like Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, LiveScience reported.<br /><br />It also said that Hearn is in talks with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the UK's version of the FDA, to be allowed to market his nicotine inhaler as a medicinal product.<br /><br />Currently under development, BAT said the inhalers will hit the market within two years.<br />Although it is touted as the safest device for people who want to quit smoking, scientists are not really convinced.<br /><br />"If you need to deliver nicotine, it's certainly a safer route than what you get in a cigarette," said Scott Rogers, a University of Utah neurobiologist who studies nicotine addiction and its effects.<br /><br />Scientists no longer think that nicotine is entirely safe, Rogers said. "For many years it was believed that nicotine was one of the least caustic agents in a cigarette -- that it was the addiction compound but not harmful in itself."</p>
<p>Shaped like a cigarette, the inhaler doesn't contain tobacco or burn when one puffs it, meaning it won't pollute the lungs with carcinogenic tar, the researchers said.<br /><br />The "nicotine delivery" device which will look, feel, and taste exactly the same as a normal cigarette, was designed by inventor Alex Hearn, a 28-year old Oxford graduate.<br /><br />Hearn's invention has earned the backing of many wealthy investors as well as a licensing deal with British American Tobacco (BAT), maker of popular brands like Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, LiveScience reported.<br /><br />It also said that Hearn is in talks with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the UK's version of the FDA, to be allowed to market his nicotine inhaler as a medicinal product.<br /><br />Currently under development, BAT said the inhalers will hit the market within two years.<br />Although it is touted as the safest device for people who want to quit smoking, scientists are not really convinced.<br /><br />"If you need to deliver nicotine, it's certainly a safer route than what you get in a cigarette," said Scott Rogers, a University of Utah neurobiologist who studies nicotine addiction and its effects.<br /><br />Scientists no longer think that nicotine is entirely safe, Rogers said. "For many years it was believed that nicotine was one of the least caustic agents in a cigarette -- that it was the addiction compound but not harmful in itself."</p>