Need a smoke? Take a swig

Drink ‘em if you got ‘em.

A Costa Mesa company is marketing a new drink for smokers in need of a quick fix. Nic Lite, an 8-ounce drink, is packed with 4 milligrams of nicotine, roughly the equivalent of two cigarettes, and is designed to help smokers who find themselves in places where they can’t light up.

Launched by start-up NicTime, the product is being marketed at airports to cranky commuters who aren’t allowed to smoke on planes. The company is test marketing the drinks at Los Angeles International Airport and hopes to soon begin selling the drink ? which tastes like lemon water ? at more than 50 airports nationwide.

“The plan is to make it available for smokers to drink anywhere there is a smoking ban,” Baker said.

“Whether they’re at work, on an airplane or at a restaurant, this is a product that safely delivers nicotine.”

The product comes as anti-smoking sentiments and legislation in California continue to increase. State law bans smoking in bars, restaurants and many public places. Cities such as Newport Beach and Huntington Beach have taken a step further, banning smoking on public beaches.

A group of healthcare nonprofits is collecting signatures to place a new cigarette tax that would quadruple the price of cigarettes on the November ballot. The money raised from the proposal would be used to pay for California emergency rooms and anti-smoking education for children.

Baker said Nic Lite is not being marketed as a way to quit smoking but simply as a replacement when someone can’t get in a puff. Researchers with the company spent seven years developing the product, which strips the nicotine molecule to its simplest form, removing any hint of odor, color or taste.

“It will have the same biological effects of smoking a cigarette without all the harmful chemicals,” Baker said.

The product received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration in 2004 and has been earmarked as a dietary supplement.

Baker said the drink is appealing to vendors because it would not be taxed like most tobacco products.

Smokers have had mixed reactions to the product. Lance Waterfield at the Smoke Shack at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa said the nicotine drink can’t replace some of the basic tenets of smoking.

“Knowing the ritual of smoking, a drink just wouldn’t work for most,” he said.

For many, smoking is more than a way to get a quick fix. It’s a work break, a conversation starter or something to do after strenuous activities ? like eating a big meal. Sometimes you’ve just got to have a smoke.

Baker said his product is not intended to replace cigarettes, just to provide an alternative when smoking isn’t allowed. He hopes to have the product in stores soon. Nearby, Nic Lite is being test-marketed at the Main Street Shell Station near Harvard Avenue in Irvine. As with tobacco, consumers have to be 18 or older to purchase the drink.dpt.16-nicdrink-CPhotoInfo7F1S1J0J20060616j0xbb4nc(LA)