CLEVELAND -- There's a new kind of cigarette turning a lot of heads these days. It looks just like the real thing and its makers call it a "healthy smoking alternative." They even say it has helped people quit.

The device looks like a cigarette and delivers a nicotine mist, but no smoke.

"People initially say 'You can't do that.' But once they see what it is, they're like 'Wow!' " Sebastian Cangemi said.

Cangemi, a local entrepreneur, is the man behind Liberty Stix. They're electronic cigarettes which Cangemi said will deliver the nicotine smokers crave but not all the carcinogens that come with conventional cigarettes.

Though not FDA-approved as a stop-smoking product, Cangemi said they can help you quit by gradually reducing the amount of nicotine you get by changing the cartridges.

Cangemi said, "I used to smoke six packs of cigarettes, now I use four cartridges. You get your fix after two to three drags of this, so you actually wean yourself off that hand-to-mouth habit."

NewsChannel5 decided to run the product past one of the area's leading smoking cessation experts, Iyaad Hasan, Director of the Cleveland Clinic's Tobacco Treatment Center.

"I do not see any value or recommend it to my patients," Hasan said.

Hasan's issue is the fact that "smokers" will still be feeding their addiction with the nicotine and they're not breaking the "hand-to-mouth" habit.

Hasan also said, "Because of its weight, its size, etc. it keeps the patient hooked on the cigarette and that's what I really do not like. It does not break the behavior."

But what about the smokers themselves?

We asked long-time smokers Joanne Billie, MaryBeth Kosan and NewsChannel5 photographer Bob Seeley to put their real cigarettes out and Liberty Stix to the test.

"Sucking in, that is amazing. The (cigarette) I put out may have been the last pack I bought," Billie said.

Kosan added, "Oh, the whole feeling's there ... like you're really smoking. Not bad!"

Both Billie and Kosan would be willing to pay $35 for the starter kit thinking it may help them quit their increasingly expensive habit.

Seeley had a different opinion.

"I'd rather keep smoking or just go cold turkey than spend $35 on a plastic toy that I feel stupid holding," Seeley said.

NewsChannel5 marched all three of their testers into their non-smoking newsroom. Their Liberty Stix turned every head, as they would certainly do in any Cleveland restaurant.

In fact, they've already turned the head of Nick Kostis, one of the owners of Pickwick and Frolic.

Kostis is hoping to accommodate as many customers as possible in these tough economic times.

Kostis said, "I think this product -- if in fact its claims are valid, which they seem to be -- I'm interested in learning more. And I think the public will be also."

Cangemi said he's already sold more than 22,000 kits and has gotten interest from other restaurants and even drug store chains.

So will this trend really catch fire? That remains to be seen.

A New Jersey senator has written a letter to the FDA asking the agency to require approval for all e-cigarettes, but the FDA has not responded yet.

As far as using this product indoors, Health Reporter Alicia Booth called the state of Ohio's Smoking Ban Enforcement Office and was told right now, it's not a violation of the ban to use e-cigarettes.

Related Links:

• Senator Wants To Snow Out E-Cigarettes
• Liberty Stix
• Cleveland Clinic Tobacco Treatment Center