# Unfiltered California **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2014, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316 "2014-02-14T09:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/1 "2014-02-14T09:23:48Z")
The state may consider banning filter-tip cigarettes because of the litter problem. Is this a good idea? [quote=“[Chris Clarke – KCET] ([http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/legislation/new-wildlife-protection-law-would-ban-the-butt.html](http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/legislation/new-wildlife-protection-law-would-ban-the-butt.html))”]Citing the immense damage to wildlife and public health caused by discarded cigarette filters, a California legislator is seeking to ban sales of filter-tipped cigarettes in the state. Assembly Bill 1504, introduced this week by Monterey-area Assemblymember Mark Stone, would make it illegal to sell or give away filtered cigarettes in California, with a relatively stiff fine attached for each violation… Worldwide, it’s estimated that 845,000 tons of cigarette butts are improperly discarded each year, with something like three billion tossed aside just in the San Francisco Bay Area each year. And as most such filters aren’t rapidly biodegradable, the butts pose a long-term threat to wild animals and small children who ingest them. The bill would make it illegal to sell, give away, or order any cigarettes with “single-use” filters in the state, with fines of $500 for each violation. (A single violation is defined as up to 20 cigarettes, so that selling a pack or giving a stranger a single cigarette would both merit $500 fines.) If passed, though unlikely, the law would force smokers to use non-filtered cigarettes or carry around and use a reusable filter. … Though one might reasonably ask whether banning filtered cigarettes poses a risk to smokers, the consensus among public health scientists is that filters don’t appreciably reduce the amount of tar, nicotine, or particulate matter that smokers inhale. American tobacco companies have been forbidden to suggest that filters reduce the risk of smoking since 2006… But the filters persist on cigarettes, mainly because smokers think they’re safer. It’ll be interesting to watch the reaction to the bill from the tobacco lobby. The three billion cigarette butts discarded yearly in the San Francisco Bay Area, after all, translate to more than a billion dollars in retail sales. [/quote] Consider, also, that the scores of Indian smokeshops could subvert the law. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/2 "2014-02-14T12:59:46Z")
I foresee a big surge in the sales of those long cigarette holder thingies (with a filter in the tip). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/3 "2014-02-14T13:18:28Z")
It’ll never happen. The better solution to the problem would be a $500 fine for not properly disposing of your cigarette butt with the money going towards litter clean up. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/4 "2014-02-14T14:19:34Z")
If they’re banned, then bump up the cost to help offset the increased burden on the medical system. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/5 "2014-02-14T16:07:40Z")
Those filter-holder devices are supposed to be good for about a pack. I think the overall mass of one of those vs. twenty filtered butts is about the same. But animals are probably less likely to mistake those things for food, and I think smokers would be a little less likely to just toss them anywhere, soon balance, I am guessing they would be a net improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/6 "2014-02-14T16:21:53Z")
Banning any cigarette is always a good idea. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/7 "2014-02-14T16:33:32Z")
Time to invest in zig zag paper! ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/8 "2014-02-14T18:29:43Z")
I am an ex-smoker, and one of the habits I have never understood is the casual tossing of cigarette butts on the ground. [Littering](http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/374.4.html)is littering, and already has fines in place. We just need to enforce the laws already on the books, not create special laws to target a particular product. > [@](#): > > As used in this section, “litter” means the discarding, > dropping, or scattering of small quantities of waste matter > ordinarily carried on or about the person… Quote edited because: It goes on to list examples, but states explicitly that the list is not exhaustive, so I snipped out the list before someone complains that cigarette butts aren’t in the list. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/9 "2014-02-14T19:43:24Z")
First of all, I’m going to want a cite for “…the immense damage to wildlife and public health caused by discarded cigarette filters…”. Immense? And to think I’ve never heard of a single example of human or animal getting sick from a discarded butt. Ill informed, I am. While we’re at it, though, let’s outlaw bottle caps. They’re all over the place. Shoot, just outlaw all cans and bottles - that’ll solve the problem. No sense in, as **hajario** suggested, enforcing the littering laws already on the books. FTR, I don’t smoke. I also despise it when people flick a cig butt on the ground. Making the butts illlegal when the act already is - just stupid. IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/10 "2014-02-14T19:48:52Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’ll never happen. > > The better solution to the problem would be a $500 fine for not properly disposing of your cigarette butt with the money going towards litter clean up. I agree. I smoked around 2 packs a day for about 10 years before I quit, but by God I picked up my damn butts. It’s not that hard and littering is littering. Fine the assholes who flick them out car windows and drop them on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/11 "2014-02-14T20:14:42Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > …with the money going towards litter clean up. > [@Bullitt](#): > > …to help offset the increased burden on the medical system. Don’t kid yourselves. Any cigarette tax will _always_ go directly to politician’s pockets or pork-barrel projects, often in the disguise of [saving the children](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_10_%281998%29). At least, this time, they’re not pretending it’s a health issue, since smoking unfiltered cigarettes is much more dangerous than filtered ones (and much yuckier – I quit smoking Camels because I was sick of those tobacco flakes getting stuck between my teeth!) This bill smells of tree-hugger propaganda. They already took away our plastic bags, and they won’t stop until we’re all drinking tofu shakes and wearing hemp loincloths. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/12 "2014-02-14T20:33:53Z")
The degree to which the media and the public will run in shrieking circles because some minor California legislator throws out an extreme idea for a new law will never cease to amaze me, even from way over here… ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/13 "2014-02-14T20:57:27Z")
What started all this anyway, at this particular time? Cigarettes, with or without filters, have been around for a long long time. Cigarette butts, meaning the leftover stubs of smoked cigs, have been a scourge of the landscape for as long. Cigarette butts, meaning the asses who use world as their asstray, have been around since before there were cigarettes. So what brought up the issue just now? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/14 "2014-02-14T22:10:49Z")
Forgive the dumb question, I’m not very familiar with cigarettes, but if you take away the filter, won’t there still be a butt? Will it just be filled with “wasted” tobacco? If kids and pets eat those, is that somehow better? I agree that stricter enforcing of existing litter laws makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/15 "2014-02-14T22:12:47Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Forgive the dumb question, I’m not very familiar with cigarettes, but if you take away the filter, won’t there still be a butt? Will it just be filled with “wasted” tobacco? If kids and pets eat those, is that somehow better? I agree that stricter enforcing of existing litter laws makes more sense. Rolling paper and tobacco break down, filters do not. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/16 "2014-02-14T22:22:41Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > We just need to enforce the laws already on the books, not create special laws to target a particular product. _This_ is the ridiculous idea. There are hundreds of thousands of smokers, 99% of whom throw multiple butts on the ground per day. Do you want to hire a giant herd of Butt Police (at public expense) to patrol all the streets and neighborhoods to enforce the anti-littering laws? Will you vote yourself a tax increase to fund the Butt Police? Why should non-smokers shoulder the expense caused by smokers? What we need is a $1 per filter deposit. Smokers will return the butts to get their deposit back, or bums will pick up the butts for spending money. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/17 "2014-02-14T22:25:33Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > It’ll never happen. I clearly recall the same thing said about smoking bans in bars, restaurants and other public places. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/18 "2014-02-14T22:28:59Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > So what brought up the issue just now? A minor California legislator looking for column inches. From Monterey this time instead of the usual culprit, Berkeley. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/19 "2014-02-14T22:50:32Z")
Cigarette holders might make a comeback, if it passes. > **[Cigarette holder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_holder)** > > A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite (popular in the past but now wholly replaced by modern plastics), cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies' fashion from the early 1910s through early to the mid 1970s. > The holder was a practical accessory and served several purposes. The primary use was to prevent ash from falling onto a woman's clothes, especially since women ... > [@](#): > > A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite (popular in the past but now wholly replaced by modern plastics), cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies’ fashion from the mid-1910s through the early-1970s. > > The holder was also used as a practical accessory, as before the advent of filtered cigarettes in the 1960s, the holder would encase a filter. Though modern cigarettes are generally manufactured with an existing filter, filtered cigarette holders are still used as a secondary filtration system, and to prevent nicotine staining of the fingers.[1] ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316/20 "2014-02-15T04:16:39Z")
I’m sorry, but I have to go with _ **crême brûlée** _ due to the fact that it’s my coffee creamer faux flavor of choice. I drink a dollop or two of that stuff practically every single day. Oh…wait, what was the original question? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfiltered-california/681316.md?page=2)