Throw a Cigarette Butt on the Ground and You Could Face Three Years in Jail

the act of tossing a butt is really a sign of being a self-absorbed person...unaware of their selfishness & disregard for others and the community around them

perhaps a mandated course in ethics, civility, manners would be a more fitting punishment.. the cost of said course in behavior modification would be like the DUI courses required here in SC..($250.) and some 16 weeks of re-training to be a responsible citizen- resident who is civic minded...

the punishment in this thread instance is crude and barbaric and serves no purpose but to have the 'State' as the supreme authority... we are being conditioned into subservience

When i saw the headline, i thought OP was talking about Singapore. Can't even chew gum in public there. But it is nice and clean there. Illinois has a ways to go.

Oh really? Fvck the morons who throw their garbage all over the place. I know about the disgusting and dangerous private prisons business but i really don't care about some idiot throwing its sh1t around the place like in a pigsty.

KeliOnyx
Speaking as an actual smoker, I am perfectly fine with this. There is no reason to be throwing your extinguished butts on the ground. If there is not an empty receptacle for them they should go into your pocket. Anything less is pure laziness and self absorption.

I am not good with huge fines and prison for something that is not their right to intrude upon at all. This is a minor issue altogether. I don't believe they have the right to fine anyone to begin with, they don't have the right to abuse poor people and use them as revenue. And prison should only be for psychopaths and elites who abuse their positions, ie repeat serial killers.

Everyone else just needs, counseling, and abundance, equality. Ends all their problems most of the time!

Names.

I want names.

# 111

reply to post by xuenchen


GOOD! I can't wait until they outlaw cigarettes. Won't happen in my lifetime though, the cigarette companies are too rich over you guys killing yourselves. While they sit back with their billions laughing saying "What a bunch of idiots".

Looking at the statute here it appears that cigarettes are not singled out, and 'any' 3rd time littering offense can get you felon status.
Be careful you don't miss dropping that gum wrapper/receipt/shopping list on the ground while digging around in you pockets/purse.

Seems many states have anti litter policy.
Health and safety code/penal code

www.ncsl.org...

"Don't mess with Texas"

Still, isn't it just as easy to:
walk over and throw something in the trash
or encourage people, "hey throw that in the trash"
walk over and throw trash you see in the trash.

???

and actually, how hypocritical are we as a society... we create trash, then put it into a container, then take the contents of all those containers and put it all in a "dump." which is nothing more than a large social trashbin. So really, when are we not littering? or are we just removing it from site and saying hey trash is gone. even though its not really gone.

???

So really its like, If i see you throw that butt on the curb, instead of in the trashbin, which goes to the "dump" Im going to fine you or whatever... well who fines the person fining you? and fines them?

Benevolent Heretic
As usual, it's apparent that no one here cares about looking further than the title. If you did, you would find many of your issues and concerns addressed. I'm not even going to bother relaying the information. If you're not curious enough to look for the truth yourself, well, then just take the word of a far-right-wing blog and bitch and moan to your heart's content.

Secondly, living in the desert southwest, I am highly aware of how many LIVES are lost, not to mention forest acreage, wildlife, businesses and homes, to the flick of a single cigarette butt.

It's really too bad people don't use their brains anymore.

I understand your position but to be clear on your intent, you are saying anyone flicking their cigarette butt out the window should be arguably charged with a felony? Is that about right? I mean, the argument that every flicked butt creates unbearable hardships and broken dreams notwithstanding of course.

reply to post by Pricolici


Is it really necessary to express your opinion with the manners of a juvenile ? Surely, IF, you are an adult you can contribute to the conversation without a small persons low vocabulary and use language that's better fitted for a private conversation and not a public forum.

Sorry for the off topic post but sometimes it is necessary to point out when someone is a better fit in another forum.

reply to post by DJMSN

Bossing around much? Or just bringing an amusing interlude of self-righteousness to the dark, gloomy, cloudy discussion about the basic human liberty to throw your trash, junk, litter (or, if you don't mind, ##snipped##) all over the place for all the others to enjoy it?

Pricolici
Oh really? Fvck the morons who throw their garbage all over the place. I know about the disgusting and dangerous private prisons business but i really don't care about some idiot throwing its sh1t around the place like in a pigsty.

edit on 8-1-2014 by Pricolici because: (no reason given)

I actually agree with you somewhat. I hate to see trash everywhere. I've done beach clean-ups and the amount of cigarette butts is overwhelming. While making it a felony for repeat offenders is harsh, I strongly believe someone who is caught littering deserves a much stiffer sentence than someone who is simply caught with a certain type of plant. However I think escalating fines, with community service of picking up trash for repeat offenders is an appropriate punishment.

My home town of Cocoa Beach now has 'beach rangers' that patrol the beach. They are not lifeguards or law enforcement. Even though there is popular support from the community to catch and fine those who litter the beach, it is extremely tough according to them because they have a difficult time proving who left the trash behind. In today's age of cell phone camera's I think it would very easy to catch someone littering on camera.

Lastly, I know it is a criminal offense to toss a cigarette butt out of a car when there is a high risk of forest fires. Many fires have been started in dry weather from cigarette butts so the law for once actually makes sense.

reply to post by TKDRL


I hate it when smokers carelessly throw their butts to the ground, thank you for not being on. Animals can be strangely attracted to cigarette butts. I had a dog that would eat what he found and end up throwing up mass amounts for a day or 2 and sometimes ending in a huge vet bill. People don't think about this (or don't care), I would have to go through my yard and drive to make sure there were no butts for him to eat (whoever would drop by would stamp the butts out in the drive).

When I was in the Army I was also very sick of policing the butts up-who wants to pick up something that was in someone else's mouth? But even I think any jail time is way too far. Isn't the norm for littering like a few hundred, and I'm sure very few get caught on that.

Pricolici
reply to post by DJMSN

 

Bossing around much? Or just bringing an amusing interlude of self-righteousness to the dark, gloomy, cloudy discussion about the basic human liberty to throw your trash, junk, litter (or, if you don't mind, SH1T) all over the place for all the others to enjoy it?

Not bossing at all....simply asking that you grow up and respond to a thread without gutter language. If you can't then perhaps you shouldn't respond at all. I agree with the whole premise of the thread and perhaps if you had bothered to READ my first reply you may have noticed, however your reading abilities may be in the area as your language problems but still no excuse for your elementary school language.


And in case you missed it...here is the T & C of the website...perhaps you should take the time to actually read and adhere to it.

15b.) Profanity: You will not use profanity in our forums on the Websites, and will neither Post with language or content that is obscene, sexually oriented, or sexually suggestive nor link to sites that contain such content. You will also not use common alternative spellings or net-speak alternative for profane words.

reply to post by muzzleflash


Good research, I think. This is worth bumping so nobody misses it.

Cigarette butts are not biodegradable because they're "plasticized" to enhance filtering. Not only that, but they're filled with carcinogens and harmful pollutants. Add to that the fire potential and you have a cocktail of stuff.

I agree that all the blame is being pegged on the users. It's too easy for them to put the responsibility on them. It's just another law to add to their books. Isn't that why we call them lawmakers. The plebs need to be controlled.

I'm sure there's a good argument against this but I grew up in Nevada, due to the dry climate and enormous fire risk throwing out a cigarette was a pretty serious crime, I know they involved fines and jail time, even just kicking some ashes to the ground could get you arrested. Living elsewhere in the country now it has always struck me as strange that people just throw these things out.

reply to post by theMediator



You do realize that the new cars now do NOT come with an ash tray anymore?

www.thehogring.com...

No ash tray, but fines and felony charges if you throw one out your window.

Read that entire article, this stuff on smoking is getting ridiculous. UK has banned smoking in your car and put it up there with intoxicated driving....

More and more people are trying to make it criminal to smoke a cigarette.


ETA: Is window a bad word, I am typing it but it wont show up???? lol... why cant I say window in the sentence underneath the link???

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Insane isn't the word mate!

I know which criminals i think ought to be locked up and have the key thrown away...that or a straight jacked and padded cell.

Who the hell votes these lunatics into office?

ETA: If natural substances like leaves from trees, grass clippings, twigs and so on are not included in this insanity, then there is a way to challenge this madness if you're a smoker...go for roll your own, using nothing but tobacco and a rolling paper.

It's natural and biodegradable, just like leaves from a tree and hedge clippings.

OpinionatedB

You do realize that the new cars now do NOT come with an ash tray anymore?

www.thehogring.com...

No ash tray, but fines and felony charges if you throw one out your window.

I totally agree with you, I haven't taught of that.
No ash tray in a car is such a stupid idea.

reply to post by OpinionatedB


The window thing, it won't show up if it ends a sentence, in other words has a period or fullstop or whatever you want to call it right after. Weird bug here.

My 2002 BMW has an ashtray, I bought it used though, so I am not sure if it was optional or a standard thing. I had not heard about ashtrays not being standard anymore, but wouldn't surprise me any.

Personally I very rarely smoke in the car, only if I am stressed as hell been stuck in traffic for hours or something like that. Normally I pull over and smoke outside the car, good excuse to stretch the legs and get some fresh air. There is really no excuse to litter though, no ashtray, there are other solutions out there. Something as simple as keeping a mint tin in the door pocket to toss the filter in would work just fine.