It is littering.
I smoke - hand roll, no filters, untreated tobacco & light paper - so my stubs are biodegradable.
I still snuff them and toss into a trash can.

Smokers: The world is my ashtray.

It’s puzzling because I know smokers that would never litter otherwise. I’ll have to diplomatically call them out if I see them do it.

Absolutely! Maximum fine. I’m a former smoker. I abhor litterbugs. Even gum.

The only thing I’m okay with going on the ground (not sidewalks or parking lots, etc.) is fruits or vegetables (i.e. apple core) which is food for critters.

I love in Washington that anyone can report litterbugs and the phone number is on highway/freeway signs.

Quit smoking three years ago. Always threw my used addiction butt on the ground and honestly cannot understand how I did not see this as wrong. It should definitely be a fine to stop this destruction of our beautiful planet.

Makes me insane. Once I parked next to a man in a car who emptied his ashtray (the one person who uses it on the planet) on the ground. I said, "Sir. That is unacceptable." He gave me the finger & exited his vehicle. Unfortunately for him he left his window partially open. I swept up the mess & pored it back into his car. Then I drove away. I still feel good about my inappropriate deed 20 years later. Trillions of butts with nicotine, a notoriously toxic substance, leaching into our waterways is not acceptable.

Especially nasty on the beach.

If I see someone throw a cigarette butt down, I asked them nicely, who they think is going to pick up their trash? They usually ignore me, then I ask them again, who the FUCK IS GOING TO PICK UP YOUR GARBAGE, 90% pick up their butts, then I thank them.

Today I cleaned up 5 cigarette butts. Smokers are fined for throwing cigarette butts in:

Portland, Maine: $300
Italy: 300 lire
Singapore: up to $15,000
California: $700
Illinois: $1,500
Paris, France: $50 (in British pounds)

Fining smokers is a breath of fresh air. Hope it becomes a trend.

"Some observers say the ban in bars and restaurants has increased littering as smokers are forced outside. Cigarette butts can take years to decompose, during which time they release heavy metals and pollutants.

"These toxic substances are harmful to surrounding flora and fauna, and when swept or thrown into gutters they also pollute the water," Paris city authorities said in a statement."

You’re not alone. I remember being in the military and having to clean up cigarette butts, and I don’t smoke.
I think it’s probably the issue of where to put a lit cigarette out. I can just imagine Florida drivers looking for a place to put their butt after smoking.... they can't drive even without that as a distraction.

Either way, it’s definitely littering and people should be held accountable in some way.

Yes. It IS littering!!!!!!!! Plus, smokers tend to defend their right to smoke at the expense of my right not to smoke. When a smoker smokes, everyone around them smokes even if it's only in their hair and clothes!!!! Maybe there's smokers out there with actual situational awareness but I've not encountered them.

I got fined £75 for dropping a cigarette butt in Peckham , London.about ten years ago, but they only managed that because I was honest and gave them my correct name and address to send the fine. Turns out that my brother was responsible for approving this particular by law through the Mayors department here.

Yes you are correct, I no longer smoke, not for over 10 years, but it was and is human nature to stamp it out with your shoe, just the way they have always done it in movies and on TV. I think back in the day they made sure the cigarette but was out and not smoldering ready to start a fire,..its in our collective instinct to do that. But we really need to grow up and stop people for acting like wayward teenagers,.. It should be legislated against with a fine.

They're pigs.

If it doesn't grow, don't throw.

As I recall, cigg butts are not very biodegradable, speaking as a former smoker, i think they should be fined for flicking out their butts in public.

One of my favorite things to do is judge people when they do something contrary to the way they seem to be. Smoking seems to reflect a lack of consciousness, which seems to be consistent with all addictions.

As a non tobacco smoker I agree.

I'll take this rebuttal back 30 years. In the US Army you had to field strip your cigarettes which meant dislodging the filter from the stem and separating them. If what you are tossing out of you window is bio degradable then it is not considered litter, hence banana, orange apple cores are all part of the natural cycle of evolution.

I go along with that Alimacbean, but even worse, are the lowlife heathens that spit out their disgusting chewing gum all over the footpath, to stay forever and never fade away.. Usually at it's worst, seen at the entrances to all fast food outlets...............................................................
The worst I ever saw was on the underground in London, where the surroundings had just been upgraded to a beautiful standard, and you were obliged to walk on a sea of bloody chewing gum. [ which should be banned as it is in Singapore, a great clean country. ]

Teacher,leave them smokers alone! Definitely littering,no need for it.

If it’s just paper and tobacco, no problem. It’s degradable. Filters are something else. That truly is litter.