SOUTH BEND — Five states are starting the new year by offering a cigarette that is designed to extinguish itself when left unattended. Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas and Pennsylvania are starting 2009 by joining 17 other states in mandating the less flammable cigarettes.

Indiana gets its turn on July 1.

The new cigarette is designed to help prevent house fires by ceasing to burn when left unsmoked for a certain amount of time. It is made with two rings — called speed bumps — consisting of extra paper that is tightly wound around the cigarette.

The paper within the bumps is wound tighter, allowed for less air flow and making the bump less likely to sustain heat and more likely to be extinguished.

The idea is that if somone relights an extinguished cigarette, the second bump will stop the cigarette from burnig past it.

Each ring is set about an inch from either end. If the cigarette burns past the first ring, the second ring is designed to stop the burning before it ignites something nearby.

On first inspection they look just like regular cigarettes. It's only when the new cigarette is taken apart that the speed bumps are visible.

Elkhart city fire inspector Kent Stouder worked on getting the law through the Indiana statehouse. He says it was a tough fight and he's glad it's over.

"It feels real good," he said. "It's real hard to get these laws passed out there. There's always special interest groups. There's a lot of money behind different things. And it's gratifying to get something like this passed, knowing that it's a win-win situation for everybody."

Philip Morris says they don't charge any more to wholesalers, so most customers should not see a price hike.

"As a matter of policy, we don't comment on future pricing plans," wrote Philip Morris spokesman Bill Phelps in an e-mail response to a pricing question from WSBT. "However, it would be accurate to say in the past, we have not changed our list prices in a particular state in response to similar legislation being enacted."

Then there's the flavor issue that comes with smoking a previously lit cigarette that went out in the ash tray.

The manager of a South Bend Low Bob's shop says her customers might grumble about wasting a cigarette that has gone out.

"There's really funny people, " says Melanie Cauffman. "Like just between boxes or soft pack. They won't relight a cigarette, so if it goes out they might just waste their whole cigarette."

But fire fighters say the taste issue is mostly psychological.

"They added no products to it, they took nothing away," says Clay Township fire marshal Dave Cherrone. "The only thing they did was add the paper wrappings.

"So really there is not anything different. The only thing is is that yes it goes out so you have to pick it up and relight it again."

Michigan is one of 11 states that are listed as having not filed similar legislation in 2009.

Although they're called fire-safe cigarettes, fire fighters and others warn that the name can be misleading. They say anything that burns can start a house fire.

More information can be found at www.firesafecigarettes.org