Smokers may be able to get their nicotine fix without puffing, chewing or lighting up by taking advantage of the growing demand for alternative smoke-free tobacco products made by a Chester-based company.

Star Scientific plans to launch the cigalett, a lozenge made from Virginia-grown, compressed tobacco and flavored with mint and eucalyptus. The company stresses that the product, due out in September, dissolves in the mouth — but it is not candy — giving the same dose of nicotine that one cigarette does.

The company plans to test the product under the brand name Ariva. The country’s third-largest cigarette company, Brown & Williamson, has bought the rights to market the product under its brand name. The first test markets will be Richmond and Dallas. A box of Ariva will contain 20 pieces and cost about $3. "Star believes Ariva will be the first hard smokeless tobacco product to be developed in the U.S. that is both taste-acceptable and responsive to the needs of adult smokers who want an alternative to cigarettes," wrote the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Paul Perito, in a recent company press release.

Star is already selling a low-nitrosamine tobacco cigarette in Richmond called Advance, which has done so well Brown & Williamson is considering marketing it in other markets across the country.

Because cigaletts aren’t a food or a smoking-cessation product, they don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration the way products such as Nicorette gum and the Nicoderm patch do. That has caused some raised eyebrows from anti-tobacco groups who argue that there is no way of knowing the health impact of a product such as Ariva unless the FDA evaluates it.

The company isn’t making any health claims about its product, which will be sold in child-proof boxes. And, like all tobacco products, it won’t be sold to those under 18. The package will contain a notice that reads "There is NO safe tobacco product."