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Smokers pay twice as much for leaving cigarette butts  

Liverpool Smokers have paid £98,625 in fines in eight months for dropping cigarette butts on the city’s streets, almost twice as much as last year.

Campaigners such as Forest (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco) said the figure showed that councils such as Liverpool were at the forefront of “antismoking extremism” and were using the antismoking agenda to make money out of smokers.

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Smokers pay twice as much for leaving cigarette butts  

Liverpool Smokers have paid £98,625 in fines in eight months for dropping cigarette butts on the city’s streets, almost twice as much as last year.

Campaigners such as Forest (Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco) said the figure showed that councils such as Liverpool were at the forefront of “antismoking extremism” and were using the antismoking agenda to make money out of smokers.

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Cigarette butt hut catches the holiday spirit  

Cigarette smokers like fa-la-la-la as much as the next person. Need proof? Check out the Christmas lights on the cigarette-smoking tent outside of Boston's Bistro and Pub, 7500 N Main St.

Photo of Boston's smoking tent taken by Cathy Mong

Cigarette butt huts have popped up outside of area bars every winter since the Ohio enacted its indoor smoking ban approved by voted in November 2006.

What do you think of smoking tents? Make a comment below.

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CRIME REPORT: Man stabbed in Millington in spat over cigarette ashes  

A man was stabbed by his roommate Tuesday afternoon after a fight involving cigarette ashes.

James Hall, 42, was arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder after arguing with his roommate, Russell Ingram, about the cigarette ashes left on the floor of their room at 5892 West Rust in Millington.

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R1000 fine for tossing burning cigarette 

Tossing a burning cigarette out of a moving vehicle can now cost you a R1000 fine, the City of Cape Town said.

This was in a bid to curb veld fires in the hot, dry and windy weather in the region, said Fire and Rescue Station Commander Denzel Ramedies in a statement.

The move was also a reminder of the Fire Safety Amendment by-law, which regulates fire safety in the metropole, in an effort to avoid blazes such as the recent week-long veld fires in Gordons Bay.

The by-law was promulgated last year to discourage people from throwing lit cigarette butts out of moving vehicles.

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Teens ask for Escondido smoke ban 

A group of high school students is urging the Escondido City Council to ban smoking in parks.

The students told the council at its meeting Wednesday that most cities in the county have already banned smoking in parks and that Escondido should join them.

The group presented the council with 26,456 cigarette butts collected in Escondido parks during seven park cleanup campaigns in September, October and November.

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ESCONDIDO: Council upbeat about smoking ban for city parks  

Council members said Wednesday that they were open to adopting a ban on smoking in all Escondido parks, but they stopped short of asking City Attorney Jeff Epp to draw up an ordinance that would implement such a ban.

Instead, the council directed a group of teen volunteers and health care leaders to work with the city's Community Services Commission on the early stages of such legislation.

Only four of the 18 cities in San Diego County have not adopted such bans: Escondido, Vista, Santee and Lemon Grove.

The council discussed the issue after some teens marched around the council chambers with a transparent plastic sack containing 26,456 cigarette butts. The teens said they collected the butts this fall at parks throughout Escondido.

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Hefty bill for single cigarette  

THE cigarette smoked by Paul Howard as he drove through Rhondda Cynon Taf proved to be costly to him in more ways than one.

He was seen to flick the cigarette butt out of his van window, landing himself a £75 fixed penalty notice for littering.

However, when he failed to pay that fine, the matter was taken to court, leading to his financial penalty being increased to a total of £270.

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Pensioner fined for littering after police knock cigarette from his hand while arresting shoplifters 

A grandfather was left humiliated after being handed a �60 litter fine when his cigarette was knocked out of his hand as he walked past a scuffle between police and shoplifters.

Lazaris Michael, 76, had taken a single puff before his smoke was sent flying as officers apprehended two girls who were trying to flee a branch of Boots.

But the pensioner did not have time to bend down and pick it up before a council warden pounced on him and hit him the fixed penalty for littering in front of a large crowd.

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EDITORIAL: A better idea 

The arguments for such a ban dwarf supposed concerns about "smokers' rights." The health danger of secondhand smoke, even in open-air settings, is scientifically documented. The fire danger of smoking in state parks is also sadly well-documented. And so is the reality that cigarette butts constitute, by far, the most common item of litter on every beach in the land.

The Ocean Protection Council has its heart in the right place in wanting to keep litter off beaches and out of the ocean. But for the No. 1 litter problem, cigarettes, an outright ban is better than another tax.

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LETTER: Cease cigarette census  

With all the talk about tight government budgets and the hand-wringing Athens-Clarke County's mayor and commissioners reportedly went through to mitigate a property tax increase for this fiscal year, I was shocked to see a report in the Banner-Herald indicating we have county workers counting cigarette butts in the streets of downtown Athens (Story, "Art bins cutting down on cigarette butts," Monday).

They weren't estimating; they actually counted 6,207 butts.

I'm no expert on public budget waste, but cigarette butt counting is a government service we probably could live without.

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• Philip Morris wetlands filter wastewater  

Eventually the birds, foxes, turtles and deer stumbled upon a man-made wetlands that naturally filters wastewater from the nation's biggest tobacco maker.

The nearly 50 acres of wetlands are part of a $7 million science experiment, using more than 150,000 plants to filter wastewater discharged by Philip Morris USA's Park 500 facility, which reconstitutes loose tobacco into sheets in a similar process to making paper for use in its products.

But the project along the James River that became fully operational over the summer is creating a habitat for many animal species _ a stark contrast from the industrial city of steel buildings and towers less than a mile away. . . .

The manufacturing plant has long been a source of frustration for environmental groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which previously challenged state permits that allow the maker of Marlboro and other top cigarette brands to dump wastewater into the river. The foundation, which settled with the company in March, claimed the permit authorizes the discharge of excessive levels of nitrogen and phosphorus into the river.

The company's current permit with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality allows for the discharge of 2,650 pounds of phosphorus and 139,000 pounds of nitrogen per year. Last year, Philip Morris discharged 4,400 pounds of phosphorus and 72,200 pounds of nitrogen, below permitted levels for that period.

The company said that from 2001 to 2006 it voluntarily reduced its total nitrogen discharge into the river by 46 percent. The new system is estimated to reduce nitrogen levels by an additional 13 percent and phosphorus levels by 34 percent, based on initial studies done by the company and contractors for the project.

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Pro-environmental measure would ban smoking in parks, beaches statewide 

Protecting the marine environment and reducing fire danger statewide are the primary goals of the first 2009 bill by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach.

"Caring for our environment is a worthy goal of California´s policymakers," Oropeza said today after Monday´s convening of the 2009-2010 session. "Among the most important obligations of government is to safeguard its residents and be good stewards of our planet. I am hopeful fellow lawmakers will agree."

Oropeza´s Senate Bill, titled The No Smoking at State Parks and Beaches Act, would establish a fine of $250 for smoking at a state beach or a state park. It is nearly identical to a bill with the same number that Oropeza introduced in late 2006.

Oropeza represents nearly 1 million residents of the 28th Senate District, which hugs much of California´s coast from Venice to Long Beach, one of the largest coastal districts in California.

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UMass Is Kickin' Butts 

Students from UMass Amherst's Student Health Advisory Board had a clear message for the campus: Smoking is bad for you.

So what inspired their declaration?

The 33rd annual great american smoke out.

"A day in which we want as many people to quit smoking as we can," said board member Colli McKiernan.

So one of the ways they're trying to encourage people to stop smoking is by creating a visual display of cigarette butts. They collected all the pieces in one day and in just three hours. They were able to collect 12 lbs. of cigarette butts.

"It's pretty amazing," said McKiernan. "If you think about it in three hours we collected 12 lbs. One cigarette weighs like nothing."

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Hastings council amnesty of cigarette litter  

Council chiefs have declared an amnesty on those who litter the street with their cigarette ends. This is a major problem in the town and almost 100 fixed penalties for smoking related litter have been issued since April, but despite all the publicity given many people remain unaware it is an offence.

Until December 24 the Environmental Enforcement Team will target offenders but in, the spirit of the season, will only be warning the offenders they catch.

They will also distribute the last of thousands of portable ashtrays they have already given away across the town.

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