Smokeless Cigarette

If it were possible to suck heated air through tobacco without lighting it, or to suck air through tobacco that has been heated to a point below its ignition temperature, it should be possible to enjoy all of the flavor and nicotine of a cigarette without producing any smoke. As a chemical engineer I have studied volitilization and combustion processes entensively, and have concluded that the only purpose served by the burning tip of a cigarette is to provide a convenient heat source for volitilizing the nicotine and flavor elements of the tobacco. However, since I am not a smoker, I will need someone else to test my theory. I will now describe a simple test aparatus.

Buy a piece of copper tubing about the size of a cigarette. Clean it, and stuff it with tobacco. Insulate one end with something (many layers of masking tape perhaps) so that it does not burn your lips. Apply the flame of a butane lighter to the tube (not the tip) while slowly inhaling. At some point you should begin to taste the tobacco and get some nicotine.

So long as the tobacco never reaches the ignition temperature, you will not get any carbon monoxide, nor will you get many of the carcinogenic combustion products that result from burning tobacco, but that were not originally in the tobacco. The big question is, will you get a pleasant flavor, and will you get the nicotine buzz that you crave?

I suspect that volatilizing tobacco at a lower temperature will have other desirable effects. (1) Less of the heavy compounds (the tars) would be volatilized and inhaled. (2)I am nearly certain that the flavor will be more pleasant (I actually find the smell of a very freshly lit cigarette to be pleasant, but only for the first second before the smoker gets it going). (3) I suspect that much of the nicotine in the tobacco is destroyed by burning, so it might be possible to extract more nicotine from tobacco using this method.

If the consensus among those who try this is that it works, someone will need to take this process and refine it. It will have a great potential to immediately improve the lives of smokers in California and NYC where smoking is banned in all public places including bars. If it catches on, it will have the potential to improve the health of millions of smokers. I see at least three steps that would be needed to refine it to the point where a typical smoker can be comfortable "smokeless smoking" in front of others.

First, the aparatus and process needs to be refined. Can the smoker hold everything without burning his hands or lips? Is it easy to load it with tobacco? Does the butane lighter produce enough heat or does a more powerful heat source need to be developed? And it needs to look cool. Give the pipe and lighter a sexy shape and some gold or chrome plating.

Second, a marketing campaign will need to be conducted, so that everyone who sees it knows that it is tobacco in the thing and not some illegal drug.

Finally, extensive studies will need to be conducted to demonstrate conclusively that the whole process has very little potential to harm others. Once this is accomplished, another marketing campaign would seek to differentiate smokeless smoking from regular smoking so that it would be acceptable in bars and restaurants in all localities.