Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek  This is rich. The guy throws a cigarette butt on the ground, and is (rightfully) called on it, and then a bunch of people come to complain about the encroachment on the rights of smokers. The right to do what? Litter? Give me a break! Would you complain about the rights of soda drinkers if I made a post complaining about getting caught throwing my Mountain Dew bottle on the ground?
Personally, I always throw my butts in the trash. If there is no suitable receptacle available, I will keep the butt with me until I find one. For me, this issue goes beyond smokers vs. nonsmokers. I am strongly against littering in any form. I never, ever do it, and it makes my blood boil to see other people do it so flagrantly. Throwing your butts (or cans or bottles for that matter) on the ground is a trashy, crude, and chavish thing to do, and only harms the environment and gives non-smokers more ammo to use against us. |
Actually, I saw butts on the ground outdoors my entire life, even in the days when smoking was socially acceptable. Even back then, you wouldn't find ashtrays in front of every building or every corner. But of course, I see MORE butts in the environment now that people can't smoke in places period.
I've seen empty cans and bottles on the streets for years. Whether you like it or not, you're gonna find litter on the streets as long as you live (and I'm not just talking about butts or empty packs,...nonsmokers will be throwing their empty bottles and cans on the streets.
I hope more people like yourself realized if we didn't have smoking bans, you wouldn't have to worry about seeing more butts and more empty packs in the streets. That should be more ammo for antis to realize that unless you install ashtrays in front of every building, banning smoking is a bad idea, because when you force smokers outside, where they're supposed to put their butts out at if there are no ashtrays?
That's no different from a tavern forcing people to drink outside, but the tavern doesn't have the common sense to put trash cans outside. If people are gonna drink outside, the owner needs to put trash cans out there. If people are gonna smoke outside, the owner needs to install ashtrays. It ain't my fault if a businesses refuses to give me accomodations by having no ashtrays when I smoke outside.
If smokers could smoke inside as they're supposed to, you would see a lot fewer butts in the streets, since more people would be smoking inside.