# Steophan, throwing cigarette butts on the ground IS littering **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078 "2010-10-23T06:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/121 "2010-10-27T16:00:55Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Maybe, but since humans are the ones who smoke them, that’s just further proof that humans are gross. Eating trash out of the gutter (and a synthetic material, to boot) isn’t remotely comparable to inhaling the smoke of a dried plant. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/122 "2010-10-27T16:33:37Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > inhaling the smoke of a dried plant. It sounds so _healthy_ when you put it that way! ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/123 "2010-10-27T16:37:35Z")
Well, I could have said “eating filthy toxin-filled trash made from a synthetic material versus inhaling the carcinogenic and otherwise damaging smoke of a dried plant,” if that would make you happier. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/124 "2010-10-27T17:58:25Z")
No, no, I wasn’t complaining; just amused by the fact that if you look at what cigarette smoking actually is, it sounds like something that homeopathic nature medicine hippie types would be doing for the health benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/125 "2010-10-27T18:02:11Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > No, no, I wasn’t complaining; just amused by the fact that if you look at what cigarette smoking actually is, it sounds like something that homeopathic nature medicine hippie types would be doing for the health benefits. “It’s like a nettle pot in your mouth!” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/126 "2010-10-27T18:22:28Z")
Was that an amusing typo of neti pot? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/127 "2010-10-27T20:17:11Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Was that an amusing typo of neti pot? Sort of. I once saw someone selling “nettle pots” on a woo site, and it amused me to no end. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chest\_Rockwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@Chest\_Rockwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chest_Rockwell)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/128 "2010-10-27T20:25:41Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > The rooms are never as well ventilated as smokers think. This. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/129 "2010-10-27T20:54:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Sort of. I once saw someone selling “nettle pots” on a woo site, and it amused me to no end. Some malapropisms deserve to be propagated. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/130 "2010-10-27T22:44:01Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > **Kobal2** , you know smokers are the minority, right? And what is that supposed to mean, exactly ? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/131 "2010-10-28T00:33:43Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > And what is that supposed to mean, exactly ? It means that the minority should not dictate to the majority, and the minority can’t expect the majority to accommodate them. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/132 "2010-10-28T03:05:48Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > It means that the minority should not dictate to the majority, and the minority can’t expect the majority to accommodate them. I wonder upon what basis you find this belief to be rational. Because the obvious extension of your corollary is that blacks and latinos can’t expect whites to accommodate them (or gays can’t expect straight people to accommodate them, etc). Accommodating minorities is actually a very positive thing. It prevents tyranny by a close-minded, self-righteous majority. ## Yes, it’s true that smoking is a choice rather than something you’re born with–I’m not saying that smoking is good or that it is equivalent to being non-straight or non-white. I’m merely showing how your statement that accommodating a minority can’t be expected is fallacious. Just trying to pre-empt a strawman here so please don’t come back and put words in my fingers, k? I also don’t see why people make such a big deal out of roadside butt disposal. Maybe this is a topic for a separate thread, but butt-litter simply is not something that concerns me. Whether you put it on the ground here or in a garbage can there, it’s still going to end up on the ground later. Net harm to the environment remains equivalent either way. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/133 "2010-10-28T05:06:36Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > People are now smoking _dogs_??? :eek: WTF??? 😕:mad: > What’s the buzz like? Is it better than [huffing kittens](http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kitten_Huffing)? Oh My Og, I just went on a 30 minute diversion reading about kitten huffing and nearly turned blue a few times. It just goes on, and on, and on! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/134 "2010-10-28T05:52:20Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Oh My Og, I just went on a 30 minute diversion reading about kitten huffing and nearly turned blue a few times. It just goes on, and on, and on! hehe And I remember when that was just a few paragraphs long. 🙂 It’s been one of my favorites for like 5 years now. Glad you liked it, too. Remember: the orange ones fuck you up _real_ good! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/135 "2010-10-28T06:48:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > It means that the minority should not dictate to the majority, and the minority can’t expect the majority to accommodate them. Oh. Well fuck vegetarians then, I guess ? Fat people ? Muslims & Jews ? Immigrants who don’t speak much English ? All these groups involve a choice, and usually get special accommodations in restaurants in one form or another. Thankfully. Besides, as I already said, by not accommodating smokers inside non-smokers get bothered even more than before by smokers outside, be it in the form of a press of bodies, a super dense cloud of smoke, and/or a forest of butts in front of the restaurant. I still reckon separate rooms would be more comfy for \*both \*groups. It’s even sillier when the accommodations did exist but got the axe due to anti-smoking laws. For instance, French trains all had one smoking car, the last one on the train so that nobody ever had to cross it. Now they don’t. So every time the train stops the doors of \*every \*car are blocked by smokers getting their nic fix, who bother people trying to get in or out. Progress ! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/136 "2010-10-28T10:57:20Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > It means that the minority should not dictate to the majority, and the minority can’t expect the majority to accommodate them. I’m as anti-smoking as anyone, but this is not right. Our country is based on the principle that the minority voice has a say and our society should not suffer the tyranny of the majority. How this applies to the smoker/nonsmoker co-existing in society is a different question, but that’s way too broad a statement for my comfort zone. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/137 "2010-10-28T13:47:45Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Oh. Well fuck vegetarians then, I guess ? Fat people ? Muslims & Jews ? Immigrants who don’t speak much English ? Fat people? Aren’t they like the majority these days? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/138 "2010-10-28T14:02:48Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Fat people? Aren’t they like the majority these days? [Yep.](http://www.win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/index.htm#overweight) ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/139 "2010-10-28T15:12:05Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I also don’t see why people make such a big deal out of roadside butt disposal. Maybe this is a topic for a separate thread, but butt-litter simply is not something that concerns me. Whether you put it on the ground here or in a garbage can there, it’s still going to end up on the ground later. Net harm to the environment remains equivalent either way. I don’t see why you make such a big deal about me shitting on your couch. Whether I do it in the living room or in the bathroom, it’ll still end up in the sewer later. > [@Kobal2](#): > > I still reckon separate rooms would be more comfy for \*both \*groups. The main concern, as I understand it, of smoking bans has not been \*non-smoking patrons \*but the \*employees \*of places that allow smoking. So, as smoking has been banned in other workplaces, they seek to extend the ban to businesses that continued to allow customers to smoke, such as restaurants and bars. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078/140 "2010-10-28T17:51:27Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Fat people? Aren’t they like the majority these days? I was thinking of the really _really_ fat. The don’t-fit-in-the-seat fat, the motorized scooter shopping brigade. Though I don’t live in the US and thus don’t know firsthand, I’d like to think they’re still fringe. [QUOTE=Scooter] The main concern, as I understand it, of smoking bans has not been \*non-smoking patrons \*but the \*employees \*of places that allow smoking. So, as smoking has been banned in other workplaces, they seek to extend the ban to businesses that continued to allow customers to smoke, such as restaurants and bars. [/QUOTE] Huh. Hadn’t thought about it from that angle. Fair enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steophan-throwing-cigarette-butts-on-the-ground-is-littering/558078.md?page=8)