# Cigarette assholes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808 "2000-10-13T17:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/1 "2000-10-13T17:08:15Z")
Why isn’t dropping a finished cigarette butt on the sidewalk considered littering? If it is, why isn’t it being enforced? I asked a smoker once why she did this, and, believe it her not, her answer was “so birds could use them to build their nests.” ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/2 "2000-10-13T17:14:54Z")
Mont: excellent question that I’ve often asked myself. My theory is that authorities look the other way so as to keep smoldering butts out of trash bins filled with flammable litter. ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/3 "2000-10-13T17:28:28Z")
Cigarettes I can live with. If I step on a dead butt, it will at least stay where it is. Gum is a whole other question. Gum chewers who throw the wad on the street should be publicly fined AND flogged. And made to pay the bills for cleaning my carpet, car floor, the stores where I shop… ---
**Author:** ![momcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@momcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/momcat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/4 "2000-10-13T17:38:07Z")
I do not allow smoking in my house so my father and sister must go outside to light up. After finishing their smokes, they just flicked the butts off into my yard. When I complained about their litter all over and asked them to pick it all up, I was informed that the butts were biodegradable and would thus be left to rot. Two years later when I moved out, there were STILL cigarette butts in my lawn! Even the lawn mower didn’t chew them up enough to make the weather take care of them!! Biodegradable, my ass!! Litter is litter. Make smokers clean up after themselves!! And what’s with emptying the car ashtray into the street as they wait at a light?? Piles and drifts of old, nasty butts at every intersection. YUK!! MomCat ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/5 "2000-10-13T17:54:56Z")
It’s a good argument for going to back to unfiltered cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![jeel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71e660/32.png) [@jeel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jeel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/6 "2000-10-13T19:17:37Z")
Right! It’s the filter that stays there for eons!!! ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/7 "2000-10-13T19:44:13Z")
I am very sensitive to other peoples complaints about smoke and smoking, but I think that being irritated by an occasional 3cm x 0.5cm ciggiebutt on a sidewalk is a tad obsessive. It’s not like ashtrays are ubiquitous. I think if you petitioned for stricter enforcement of butt-flinging as littering, smokers would demand that ashtrays be placed at every street corner at taxpayers expense so that there would a place to put empty butts. Otherwise, you’d get the burning garbage can scenario. So disposing of the butt on on the sidewalk is often the only real option and hardly makes the smoker an “asshole”. [Edited by Alphagene on 10-13-2000 at 02:48 PM] ---
**Author:** ![buffalogal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@buffalogal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buffalogal)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/8 "2000-10-13T19:50:33Z")
That’s always been a pet peeve of mine, people who toss their cigarette butts out the car window. Obviously they have ashtrays, but they don’t want to mess them up. Maybe they use the ashtrays for candy or potpourri. It’s just another sign of selfishness. And as far as charging these people with littering, I would guess that the offense seems so trivial AND is so commonplace, that enforcement would require hiring more police officers. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/9 "2000-10-13T19:55:05Z")
How many acres of land are burned up because people throw cigarettes out of car windows? Someone I worked with was killed when he threw a cigar butt out his car window, and it came back in the back window, ignited, and burned up him and the car. People who throw butts out of car windows don’t care if they burn the whole place down. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/10 "2000-10-13T20:02:20Z")
I don’t think it’s obsessive at all. It looks horrible, and they’ll never disolve. You have to either pick it up, or hope it gets washed away. What would you do if it were a candy wrapper? …Probably put it in your pocket until you saw a trashcan. What’s wrong with putting the cig butt into your pocket? Not much, just the filter. Hell, it’s only .5cm tall by 3cm. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/11 "2000-10-13T20:11:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alphagene \* > \*\*I am very sensitive to other peoples complaints about smoke and smoking, but I think that being irritated by an occasional 3cm x 0.5cm ciggiebutt on a sidewalk is a tad obsessive. It’s not like ashtrays are ubiquitous. I think if you petitioned for stricter enforcement of butt-flinging as littering, smokers would demand that ashtrays be placed at every street corner at taxpayers expense so that there would a place to put empty butts. Otherwise, you’d get the burning garbage can scenario. > > So disposing of the butt on on the sidewalk is often the only real option and hardly makes the smoker an “asshole”. > > [Edited by Alphagene on 10-13-2000 at 02:48 PM] \*\* Totally wrong **Alphagene**! At the **very least** smokers can deposit their butts in the gutter. To drop them on the sidewalk is right up there with leaving chewing gum and spitting on the sidewalk as well. I rarely, if ever have found an occasion to differ with a moderator, but this time you are so wrong as to be stupid. It takes no major extra effort to direct what is technically **litter** into the gutter. To leave in plain view for all to see is tantamount to tagging. I dread to think of how many **tons** of cigarette butts are dumped into the environment every day in the US alone, but the figure should revolt any thinking human being. If there was some way to institute a deposit on cigarette filters, I would. Try canoeing on a beautiful mountain lake sometime, only to see filters floating on the surface of the water. Regardless of the legality of smoking, littering is a revolting habit and is socially unacceptable. Filters do not biodegrade and 90% of smokers that I have ever met do not dispose of their butts properly. You are way off base on this one **Alphagene**! ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/12 "2000-10-13T20:21:27Z")
As one proficient in the art of precision butt flicking (I can hit an wanking metal guitar player from the back of a mid-sized nightclub), I normally try to aim for a storm sewer or a pigeon. I wish we had more rats in my city. ---
**Author:** ![Sn-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sn-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sn-man)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/13 "2000-10-13T20:22:19Z")
A former smoker’s point of view. It is not about trash or littering. I think this is just an issue of laziness. I would put out the cherry and carry my butts to the trash. When in the back county, I would field strip the butt (shred into very small pieces and rolled into tiny balls and scattered). When out fishing, I had a tin that had a lid and kept the butts to throw away later. There is no good reason that butts need to be tossed on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/14 "2000-10-13T20:32:52Z")
When I have trash in my hand, no matter how biodegradeable, I find a proper place to dispose of it. If that means that I have to carry the trash on my person for a bit, so be it. I have allergies, I sneeze a lot and at times have to deal with a lot of snotty tissues. Scrunched up and blown to bits, the pieces are not much bigger than a cigarrette butt and they biodegrade much faster, and at times the are much more unpleasant to handle, but I do not throw them on the sidewalk. Smokers should not throw their cigarette butts onto the sidewalk. There is nothing that makes them special. Litter is litter. Also throwing lit but out of car windows is a heinous crime. I was burnt a few times because my father threw out a butt that was sucked back into the cars other window. I have been very badly startle when lit butts crash into my windshield or on the road ahead of me at night. Lit butts throw out of car windows have cause fires, yet smokers still do that and refuse to change. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/15 "2000-10-13T20:33:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > **How many acres of land are burned up because people throw cigarettes out of car windows?** There are places I have been to (Michigan is the only one I can remember right now, but I’m sure they are not unique) that enact strict penalties for this during times of drought. I am one of the few smokers I know who properly dispose of all butts. A few twists on the filter and the lit tobacco falls to the ground, step on it to extinguish, throw filter in the trash. Not too hard, but even other smokers give me funny looks for doing it. ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/16 "2000-10-13T20:45:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by buffalogal \* > \*\*That’s always been a pet peeve of mine, people who toss their cigarette butts out the car window. Obviously they have ashtrays, but they don’t want to mess them up. Maybe they use the ashtrays for candy or potpourri. It’s just another sign of selfishness. > \*\* I agree this is egregious. And offensive. They’re too yucky and smelly (or whatever) to keep in the car, but you’ll **put them in your mouth?** I really don’t care if someone chooses to smoke - it’s your choice - but don’t litter. Litter is litter. And cigarette butts are litter. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/17 "2000-10-13T21:08:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by black455 \* > **I normally try to aim for a storm sewer or a pigeon.** You think a storm sewer is an acceptable place? That goes straight to a river. There have been many times when I wanted to start a Pit thread about smokers who toss cigarette butts on the ground. It’s obnoxious, disgusting, littering, and potentially dangerous. No ashtrays in sight? T.S. Find one. To the OP, I can only imagine that an individual cigarette is viewed as such a minor infraction not worth the hassle. But, as noted in this thread, it adds up when millions of smokers do it every day. Here’s another example of obnoxiousness/selfishness…my condo happens to be the front unit and smokers from the back units will smoke at my doorstep and toss the butts on the ground in front of my window, creating a nice big pile after a while. [/end rant] ---
**Author:** ![Mauve\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@Mauve\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauve_Dog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/18 "2000-10-13T21:13:39Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Zenster \* \*\* > [@](#): > > At the **very least** smokers can deposit their butts in the gutter. To drop them on the sidewalk is right up there with leaving chewing gum and spitting on the sidewalk as well.\*\* I would agree that this is the _very least_ they can do. However, I don’t feel that a gutter choked with cigarette butts is any more appealing than a sidewalk littered with them. On a windy day, they will still be strewn all over the countryside. As others have stated, it isn’t that much trouble to make sure the cigarette is out, then throw it into a trash can. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/19 "2000-10-13T21:13:47Z")
It’s just a minor point, I know, but you’ve misspelled “ashholes.” ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808/20 "2000-10-13T21:18:38Z")
arguing about cigarette butt littering is like arguing about rude cell phone usage, unleashed dogs, unsupervised children, or noisy neighbors. the perpetrators are oblivious to how their behavior is inconsiderate to those around them. they don’t get it and never will. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-assholes/36808.md?page=2)