RASCO/Braun releases The Cigarette Tube. The Cigarette Tube, invented locally, purports to be the newest phase in controlling the littering of cigarette butts and helping smokers cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke. Innovation To Chang

A local business duo has recently put the finishing touches on their company's token device, The Cigarette Tube. Peter Braun, a law student at Quinnipiac University and Rich Schulz, owner of RASCO Products and RASCO Systems in Branford collaborated in bringing forth a product that promises to introduce the new age for smokers. Wheels started turning in the creation of The Cigarette Tube when a modest idea developed by Braun turned large scale. A former smoker himself, Braun was all too familiar with the pains of quitting and the current difficulties smokers face in an increasingly environment-conscious America.

(cutline) The Cigarette Tube, invented locally, purports to be the newest phase in controlling the littering of cigarette butts and helping smokers cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke.

(head) Local Innovation To Change The Face Of Smoking

(subhead) RASCO Braun Releases The Cigarette Tube

By Jamie Homer
Sound Staff Writer

Earth Day passed just weeks ago and everyone from school children to adults participated in nation-wide efforts to "green-up, clean-up" in neighborhoods around the country. Chances are much of the litter that filled their bags was cigarette butts, dropped by smokers as they entered stores, business, or public buildings.

The prevalence of cigarette butts on so many public grounds, however, may soon decrease. Litterbugs may have found their match.

A local business duo has recently put the finishing touches on their company's token device, The Cigarette Tube. Peter Braun, a law student at Quinnipiac University and Rich Schulz, owner of RASCO Products and RASCO Systems in Branford collaborated in bringing forth a product that promises to introduce the new age for smokers.

Wheels started turning in the creation of The Cigarette Tube when a modest idea developed by Braun turned large scale. A former smoker himself, Braun was all too familiar with the pains of quitting and the current difficulties smokers face in an increasingly environment-conscious America.

In working toward keeping streets, sidewalks, and parking lots free, smokers are more and more often forced to make their way to public ashtrays or face the consequences, which in some states are now large fines.

Financing smoking is another serious issue for smokers. With the price for cigarettes rising to almost $5 a pack, smoking is becoming as much a hazard to the wallet as to the health.

Though health warnings of smoking can be found just about anywhere and the financial burden is an ever-present reality, quitting is not all that simple for the seasoned smoker. And Braun knows these pains all too well.

After having tried just about everything to quit, from the patch to pills to meditation, Braun finally put his own end to smoking in 1997.

Nonetheless, Braun still feels his connection to the smoking world and, through The Cigarette Tube, is offering a device to that very community.

"I care very much for smokers," said Braun. "If I could do anything to get them to quit, I would, but if I can help them now..."

And there is indeed an added bonus for those eager to quit. It is connected to the design of the tube.

The tube operates such that a smoker can smoke as much of his or her cigarette as desired and then put it out in the four-inch bronze tube. The design of the tube ensures that the cigarette is completely extinguished within three seconds. If the cigarette is finished, the smoker can safeguard the butt in the tube until an appropriate location is found to discard it. If the cigarette is only partially smoked, the smoker can remove it from the tube at a later time, discard the hardened ash, and re-light with the same original taste, according to Braun.

This manner of functioning is what may just help smokers cut the habit. Statistics show that a smoker gets a fix within the first few puffs and the rest is supplementary. The Cigarette Tube allows smokers to take these puffs and then save the rest of the cigarette for a later time. Simultaneously, money is saved and the amount smoked is reduced.

When Braun's idea was coupled with Schulz's business expertise, the product took off. Promise in the product was first reaffirmed when the duo entered a contest sponsored by the Connecticut Venture Group, open to undergraduate and graduate students of Connecticut colleges and universities.

The contest required that entrants present a structured plan, in effect forcing Braun and Schulz to move forward systematically with their project. Out of the 60 plans submitted, the partners placed second in the competition with a $5,000 award.

"We needed to take the plan one step further because we didn't get funding after the contest," said Braun. "Most venture capitalists are not interested in single, non-tech products."

And move ahead they did. With funding from friends and family, Braun and Schulz saw the product through to its development and now operate a complete web store.

In conjunction with Earth Day efforts, RASCO Braun debuted The Cigarette Tube and even gave the device away free from April 20 through April 22 on their website http://www.thecigarettetube.com.

They are currently considering contracts with various companies and even campaigns sponsored by different states across the United States.

"We think we're right in line with where the world is going," said Braun. "We believe that we are the future of smoking. Smokers will be more environmentally conscious and health conscious. The Cigarette Tube will fill that need and hopefully along the road, some people will stop smoking."