The battle over smoking in public places heated up this year, as Michigan became a smoke-free state on May 1. Leading up to the ban, smokers and nonsmokers alike expressed their opinions in bars, in news stories and on Internet message boards and social media websites.

But what if there was an alternative? What if smokers and nonsmokers could enjoy public places together? One Farmington resident thinks that scenario could become reality.

Jay Fisher was a 20-year smoker. Desperate to quit, he tried an electronic cigarette, the latest tool to help smokers give up the real thing. The e-cigarette is battery-operated and delivers nicotine in a water vapor. It helped, but Fisher had a few issues with the device.

"I was definitely getting the nicotine," he said. "It was satisfying my cravings. I hadn't smoked any cigarettes in about two weeks, so I knew it was working, but there was something missing."

He went to his garage and took the device apart, saw how it was made and added improvements. He came up with a bigger — and, he believes, better — prototype and started shopping his device to area store owners. Some simply laughed off his idea.

Then Fisher came across a company that develops all sorts of high-end products. He said that company immediately saw the potential.

That's when Great Lakes Vapor came to life.

Customers created Internet buzz, posting videos about his product and how much they liked it.

"It just snowballed from there," said Fisher. Each month, orders grew. Now, thousands of people all over the world, from as far away as Australia and Guam, have purchased his product.

Fisher is the first in Michigan and only the second in the U.S. to have designed an e-cigarette.

"It's really for people who can't quit smoking," he said. "You can use it in bars, restaurants, movie theaters. Legally, you're allowed to use it anywhere. You're not smoking. It's strictly water vapor."

Fisher's product, the GLV-2 electronic cigarette, works with a few drops of liquid nicotine — or "e-juice," as it's called — in an atomizer. Batteries inside light up a coil, like in a light bulb. That coil heats the e-juice, turning it into a vapor. The exhaled vapor dissipates in seconds with no lingering odor.

A 20-millimeter bottle of e-juice will last about three weeks and costs about $30. Compare that to the cost of a carton of cigarettes each week, and smokers will save about $180 a month. The savings is about $300 per month for people who smoke two packs a day.

Fisher said smokers can actually wean themselves off nicotine altogether. E-juice is available in different doses, so users can gradually lower the dose of nicotine until they're only "smoking" water vapor.

"It's a great alternative to smoking cigarettes," Fisher said. "In comparison, there are 4,013 chemicals in a cigarette, around 50 are known to cause cancer. There are four in e-juice."

Each GLV-2 Electronic Cigarette Kit comes with rechargeable batteries, starting at $110. Custom colors and engravings are available. You can find more information about Great Lakes Vapor, GLV-2 and video testimonies from users at greatlakesvapor.com.