SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Health experts are greeting the news of a genetically modified tobacco that lets smokers decide how much nicotine they inhale with some skepticism.

It's called the Quest cigarette, and it's made by a company called Vector. It offers smokers a chance to choose the level of nicotine they want.

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One cigarette has 17 percent less nicotine than the average light cigarette, another has 58 percent less and the third is nicotine free. The cigarettes were developed with the help of researchers at North Carolina University.

Dr. Jed Rose is with the nicotine research program at Duke University. He says nicotine is what makes cigarettes so addictive.

"Nicotine triggers the release of chemicals in pathways in the brain. They reinforce behavior of smoking making it extremely difficult to quit," said Rose.

Still the American Lung Association of Santa Clara-San Benito counties says "any" product requiring you to inhale hot smoke into your respiratory system is harmful, no matter which chemicals are or aren't included.

The association adds: "These products being released today have no proven level of safety and should not be viewed as being less harmful."

Vector is not calling this a smoking cessation product that would require FDA approval. The company is launching its new cigarettes in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.

If the product sells well, it will be in Bay Area stores by December.