The Reality of Next Safety Inc.'s Nicotine Inhaler

The United Kingdom has instituted a no-smoking ban, and Next Safety Inc. - a company located in North Carolina - has responded with the development of a pulmonary drug delivery device.

Next Safety Inc.'s new drug delivery device is roughly the size of a pack of cigarettes (ironic, huh?) and works much like an inhaler. The nicotine is supplied in replaceable cartridges, and these cartridges are electronically monitored to assure that the nicotine that is delivered is in safe doses. The nicotine is delivered through a mouthpiece that is connected to the system by a rubber hose.

The nicotine that is delivered through this new device is equal to less than 30 percent of that inhaled from the average cigarette, and it eliminates more than 300 combustion byproducts that are contained in cigarette smoke.

This idea might be wonderful in a country where cigarette smoking has been banned. After all, nicotine is horrendously addictive and there is nothing worse than a smoker who has been denied his or her nicotine hit. It will also eliminate second-hand cigarette smoke, and that can't be bad.

But ... how will this device fare in areas where it is still legal to smoke cigarettes? Will the average smoker be willing to replace their butts with an inhaler-type device? Probably some will. An added benefit to this device is that those hits of nicotine will be much cheaper than the cost of a cigarette, and eliminating the cost of smoking is a huge incentive for smokers.

Will Next Safety Inc.'s new nicotine inhaler device be the magic fix for all smokers? Probably not. While the addictive qualities of nicotine are a huge problem, even worse are the psychological problems involved in smoking. Smokers, or at least many of them, like to smoke. They like the act of lighting up, of inhaling. There is a comfort to this action. And, of course, there is the habit to consider. That act is part of a smoker's routine, first thing in the morning, after dinner - and, of course, after sex.