For Some, All the World's an Ashtray

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | November 24, 2003 | Kathryn Balint

[Scenic Sounds]

Cigarette maker Philip Morris, a founding member of Keep America Beautiful, says part of the problem is that there aren't enough ashtrays outdoors in public places. It has mailed pamphlets promoting the use of personal ashtrays, small pocket-sized receptacles, to some of its customers.

Public smoking can be consistent with good citizenship!

[Lijahsbubbe]

It's too bad people need a public service announcement or fines to teach them about manners.

[Reagan Renaissance]

"All the World's an Ashtray"

And all of the radical environmentalists are half-baked, half-ashed and half-witted.

[palmer]

We have a sign at the door downstairs that says (paraphrase) please don't throw your butts on the ground, the cockroaches are getting cancer.

[Khurkris]

I am a bit neurotic about seeing cig butts all over the place. Maybe flashbacks to 'policing the area.' Whatever the reason, I just hate to see them. People wanna smoke thats their business. Just be responsible for the entire process.

[TSgt]

Smokers are some of the most inconsiderate people I've met.

There is nothing worse than driving down the road and having a butt bounce off your window from the jerk in front of you.

I'm glad that it is becoming politically correct and will be happy when the day comes that it is banned in public places in my city.

Flame away, I don't care! I'm sick of smelling it and leaving restaurants smelling like it!

[Agnes Heep]

Hard to believe that smokers can care more about the environment than their own bodies.

[EggsAckley]

As to knick-knacks and coins in ash trays, they neglect to mention that many, many new cars DO NOT have ash trays.

[winodog]

I agree. For some reason seeing people flick their cig butts out the window at stoplights gets under my skin as much as people who can walk using handicapped spots does.
Look down when you stop at a light and the ground is covered with cig butts.
And to top it off I have seen people dump ashtrays full out the door at places like 7/11.
I know this isnt in the top one thousand list's of crimes but I guess the total lack of respect is what ticks me off.

[nothingnew]

puff

FMCDH

[Mr. Bird]

Along California's highways, the state Highway Patrol last year cited 5,684 motorists for tossing cigarettes out the window, 10 percent more than in previous years. It is a violation that is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.

And it should be strongly enforced. Throwing a lit butt out of a window in CA can burn half the state down.

But...the "problem" of butt disposal will never go away. I find it hard to believe things are worse now than when a majority of people smoked. Here in Baltimore, the trees are festooned with plastic grocery bags. Where do the anti-smoking zealots stand on the tree bag problem?

[gcruse]

I'd like to see one of Vogue's rail-thin, almost a dyke supermodels field strip one of their Eves without breaking a nail or stabbing herself, I really would. ;)

[Scenic Sounds]

Is public smoking a "liberal/conservative" issue? If so, how did that division arise?

[HamiltonJay]

Well, after being hit with a still burning cigarette while riding behind a kind driver who lovingly flicked her but out her window as I followed her on my motorcycle.... lets just say some people need lots more than a public service announcment.

[kallisti]

and i'd like to see them policing an area.

[Lijahsbubbe]

You mean like a foot-in-butt announcement?

[Lijahsbubbe]

And how about the shopping cart problem?

[Mr. Bird]

Is public smoking a "liberal/conservative" issue? If so, how did that division arise?

The debate has multiple levels. In my opinion, laws banning smoking in privately owned establishments such as bars and restaurants are a gross usurpation of property rights. The owners of such businesses should be free to allow any otherwise legal activity at their discretion.

The second-hand smoke issue is a canard presented by tortious miscreants looking to make a buck off of junk science. There are absolutely no statistics indicating "second hand smoke" is anything other than an annoyance to those who do not smoke. Well, no legitimate statistics, I should say.

This call to arms against butts is I suppose a fairly new one; it is rooted in sound thinking. Littering is a bad thing. But, as the article indicates, as smoking is restricted, the places in which the butts can be safely discarded vanish as well.

The easy thing to do is simply say the smoker is wrong, and punish him for careless disposal of butts. But the smoker does not behave in strictly rational ways. The smoker is aware that his very life is likely to be shortened because of his habit. You don't think he's going to refrain from the occasional butt-flick out the car window because we're threatening to take some cash? If the prevalence of discarded butts is a serious issue, then the appropriate way to address it is to think of ways to actually solve the problem, rather than just spanking smokers.

[Great Dane]

Agreed, but cigarettes are not the only things tossed, will Pampers and Luve provide free bags for parents, will Big Mac privede garbage containers for their litter, I could go on.

[TSgt]

"Is public smoking a "liberal/conservative" issue? If so, how did that division arise?"

Smokers see the issue as more government intervention and interference in their lives. Most of them refuse to admit that their filthy habit effects others and feel "picked on" by non-smokers thus they take the conservative stance of less government.

I am a non-smoker and loath smoking however I believe what people do in their own homes is their business to include smoking. Having said that, I would like the same courtesy from smokers when I'm at a restaurant attempting to eat or standing in a confined public area.

I've been flamed to hell by smokers on FR and I'm amazed at how many of them truly don't believe that their habit has an effect on anyone else around them.

I'd like to prove my point one day by eating a pot full of beans and spicy chili and then stand in the middle of a bunch of smokers and fart until their noses bleed...