Smoke Stick touted as alternative to cigarettes

Katherine Heigl appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman Monday night to promote her new movie, but she ended up doing a lot more promotion for the SmokeStik.

The Smoke wha..?

The "smoke stick" is an electronic device designed to simulate the process of smoking. The company promotes it as a way to get all the "benefits" from smoking without the harmful chemicals and tar found in traditional cigarettes. The best part, it doesn't give off smoke, so your friends and family don't have to breathe in those toxic fumes.

Does it seem too good to be true?

We thought so too, until we checked it out. It turns out that whole thing basically runs off water vapor -- the mist is produced when liquid glycerine, propylene glycol and food flavorings are vaporized in the atomizer, according to the company's website.

Why did Heigl start with the alternative smoke stick? She didn't want the harmful effects of smoking to affect her adopted daughter, Naleigh.

"You blow out water vapor so you're not harming anyone around you and you're not harming yourself," she told Letterman. "I'm essentially humidifying the space."

SmokeStik starter kits are sold starting at $89.99, quite a hefty price for a small smoking apparatus. But, if it saves even one person from getting lung cancer or emphysema, we're all for it.

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