15 May 2007

Dirty smokers in the city

Join the conversation
86

I was walking with my wife a young son in the area near the Canberra Theatre, next to the Legislative Assembly, last Saturday morning, and noticed hundreds of cigarette butts all over the ground. So many that I picked my son up so he didn’t fall and get dirty cigarette butts on his hands.

What is going on with smokers in this town? Lots of them must be filthy animals because they seem to think it acceptable to litter in public places like this. Don’t tell me “it’s only a minority”, because it ISN’T. I see smokers doing this ALL THE TIME.

Why can’t these people lift their game a bit??

Join the conversation

86
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

im sorry iceu but the ailments of the general population are their concern.

their rights end at the tip of their nose, as do mine.

Wow, wouldn’t it be a great world if everyone (including lawmakers) had this attitude.

I guess I’m biased, considering I have a genetic lung disease. I’ll just lock myself inside for the rest of my life, seeing as I have no rights.

Let’s face it, everyone wants to attack smokers because they don’t want to seem like utter bastards by attacking the following: fat people, drug addicts, mummy’s boys etc.

Next time I cop it for smoking – away from others I might add – I’m going to let it rip with anything I can think of that describes that person.

It’s just me returning the favour 🙂

More than comes from a cigarette VY.

And do stick the exhaust pipe in my mouth, suck this crap in, then blow it onto others?

No, no, yes.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt8:39 pm 18 May 07

Yeah, but in what quantities? And do stick the exhaust pipe in my mouth, suck this crap in, then blow it onto others?

I see your ‘C’ and raise you a ‘B’ for BENZINE.

Can i get a C for Carbon Monoxide – sorry thats a vowel.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt3:13 pm 18 May 07

“Cars produce very little pollutants? You MUST be joking.

ROFLMAO

That’s the best chuckle I’ve had in a long time. “

Showing your lack of intelligence there. Modern cars produce very little other than Co2 and Nitrogen. The old cars of unburnt hydrocarbons are long gone.

bonfire – I smoke a pipe and cigars.

I don’t touch cigarettes as I think they are disgusting.

There are a declining number of pipe tobacco stockists in Canberra, so before finding yourself a nice pipe to settle into, I’d first suggest finding a tobacco stockist.

For ultimate passer-by pleasure, go amphora.

For ultimate woo factor, buy a savinelli pipe to go with it.

Myself, I’ve got about 4 curved stems, and an oak churchwarden for whenever I want to feel like a lord of the rings ranger. My Savinelli is a straight stem, and you can tell the difference in the quality of production.

best smoking room – helsinki airport.

lovely comfortable black leather chairs. lighers.

ashtrays.

magazines.

if only it had barman…

Thumper – syd international airport has smoking rooms in the departure gates

I thougth so.

Also – Maybe cars provide very little in the way of visible pollutants – but I for one will not attach a hose to my exhaust for free central car heating.

Absent Diane12:22 pm 18 May 07

Thumper – syd international airport has smoking rooms in the departure gates…

Cars produce very little pollutants? You MUST be joking.

ROFLMAO

That’s the best chuckle I’ve had in a long time.

Absent Diane11:38 am 18 May 07

A little hypocritical VY. You believe science when it suits and when it doesn’t.

Granted though that modern cars are less damaging to the environment and I think that anyone who claims to be concerned about the environment and then goes and drives an old pollution machine shtbox should be shot.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt10:58 am 18 May 07

With modern emmissions controls, including electronic timing and catalytic converters, cars produce very little pollutants. Don’t confuse this with Carbon Dioxide, which the chicken littles of the world tell us is evil (despite the fact that humans breathe it out).

Actually VY not crap. Quite credible. But it’s easier to make a pariah of a smoker (they smell) than the owner of a large, obnoxious, overpowered car.

if i never drove the stanley steamer again, never lit up a cool refreshing laramie again, and traded my wood heater for a gas one – all that would be undone in 1 second of a chinese coal powered power station belching unscrubbed carbon and pollutants into the atmosphere.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt9:39 am 18 May 07

“imagine how many pollutants your v8 is putting into the environment and ruining the world which your children are to grow up in – far more than 1000 smokers could i’m sure”

What utter, utter crap.

Immature shit? Nice one.

OK then, how’s this: Your opinion is wrong. Ner ner ner.

my dog used to throw her butt on the ground, and drag it a bit.

she didnt have cancer. she died of old age.

omg the day has come where i agree with bonfire.

VYberlina – let’s see some ranting against the sun for shining and causing skin cancer, for every person driving a car past your precious anklebiters and forcing them to breathe the exhaust. jesus imagine how many pollutants your v8 is putting into the environment and ruining the world which your children are to grow up in – far more than 1000 smokers could i’m sure!!

children in general sh*t me to tears but i accept that when i go out in public they will be there – so you too will have accept that when you take the rugrats out in public there will be people smoking. or swearing. or doing many other activities you think are filthy!

people with children thinking they run the world? or those sick of those people? i refer you to this for a read: http://blogs.smh.com.au/thedailytruth/archives/2007/05/breeders.html

p.s. yes i do smoke. no i do not throw my butts on the ground.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt2:00 pm 17 May 07

This is a test!

woohoo !!!!!!!!

-thanks- _danman_

substitute brackets for triangle brackets

(i) to open
(/i) to close

I give up…

bah it did not work

ill try it with underscores (subtract underscores)

Open italics tag
Close Italics Tag

To combine the two –
I had a client once who flicked their cigarette butt on the ground in a public pace and then their toddler’s bickered over who was going to put it out with their foot. the children then both “helped” to put it out with their feet…what a team effort.
I was both embarrassed (as people around would have though I was the childs parents also) and disgusted (for obvious reasons).

fc – minus spaces – open italics tag close italics tag

try it

Snahons_scv6_berlina9:58 am 17 May 07

Irrespective of the ‘cleanliness’ and the ‘children’ arguments (positive/negative) the mere volume of the littering is bad enough.

im sorry iceu but the ailments of the general population are their concern.

their rights end at the tip of their nose, as do mine.

cotton wool wrapped children in disinfected germ free homes fed organic sterilised food are more likely to have caused their childrens asthma than me having a quiet durry on a park bench watching the world go by.

Danman,
how do you make the writing go into italics?

No need to resort to name calling, you immature shit.

“FC – You can theorise and believe what you like.

However – don’t try and tell me what I do or don’t ‘really enjoy’, you clown” el

Its is my opinion and that’s what I believe to be true. No need to resort to name calling, you immature shit.

At least with a cigarette you aren’t likely to get Hep C or even HIV, as you would with a needle.

Now with that I’m off for a smoke.

If you don’t believe that passive smoking causes cancer, I hope you at least don’t try to deny that it can be a serious problem for the 11% of adults and 15% of children with diagnosed asthma. Not to mention those with other lung disorders or even allergies.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt8:18 pm 16 May 07

Hey Nyssa, for what it’s worth, I hate drugs even more than ciggies. Based on experience with friends and family.

FC – You can theorise and believe what you like.

However – don’t try and tell me what I do or don’t ‘really enjoy’, you clown.

Thanks.

If only the same hatred was directed towards drug addicts, I doubt there’d be any.
*grin*That’s worked so well for smoking, hasn’t it?

Actually the number of smokers has dropped – and I don’t mean by dying.

If you harass someone enough, they’ll stop.

Shame we can’t do that about the pollies.

I was working for a recruitment company in recent years, and like clockwork, every hour or so, the office became deserted as they all upped sticks and went down into the carport to smoke. Supervisors, the head honcho, the lot. I think it was me and one other who were left. Phones were ringing, but it was the smokers meeting downstairs. And this was private sector.

As for the behaviour of parents and their kids, it is mostly pretty offensive. They take over any space they’re in, make noise and act as though it’s their space now, and you are on the periphery. Sometimes i see people with well brought-up kids,but they are the minority. I hate sharing space with breeders for any length of time, as most of them are incapable of sharing.

bonfire, constantly referring to your part time ‘cool refreshing laramie’ habit makes you sound like even more of a wanker than normal.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt2:23 pm 16 May 07

As are you if you think that sort of BS will fly. Fortunately it was such a stupid comment that it’s obvious you’re trolling.

secondhand smoke causing cancer is a hyped myth.

if you seriously think the aroma of a cool refreshing laramie that wisps in the air as you walk through it, will cause you cancer – as opposed to the concentrated exhaust fumes pouring out of cars, which you breathe in constantly – you are a softhead of the highest order.

smoking must be ok – jerry fallwell didn’t blame THEM for 9/11…

is it true he was found with his pants round his ankles and someone else’s used condom nearby??

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt1:57 pm 16 May 07

The difference is that the screaming and irritating kids of others are unlikely to give you cancer.

Absent Diane1:38 pm 16 May 07

That was kind of the point I was trying to make.. I just chose to go a little more hardline 🙂

Its all a matter of perspective VY/V8 – live and let live… for example

I was walking trying to have a quiet smoke by myself in the area near the Canberra Theatre, next to the Legislative Assembly, last Saturday morning, and noticed hundreds filthy screaming children all wandering around. So many that I picked up my pace so i didn’t get their dirty little hands anywhere near me.

What is going on with breeders in this town? Lots of them must be filthy animals because they seem to think it acceptable to allow their offensive progeny run amok in public places like this. Don’t tell me “it’s only a minority”, because it ISN’T. I see breeders doing this ALL THE TIME.

Why can’t these people lift their game a bit – and leave me to smoke in peace??

*takes tongue out of cheek*

don’t sweat the small stuff V8.

Bonfire – As a non smoker i would much rather have the problem being the littering of butts everywhere, than having to work in smokey buildings coz my co-workers smoke.

But way too many smokers out there are too bloody lazy to walk an extra 10 metres to a bin to place their butts in it. Maybe that 10metres of walking would undo the damage to your health that the cigarette just did.

PS – there is a difference between litter and rubbish…
Rubbish is in the bin – hence the name – rubbish bin – litter is rubbish that is not deposited in the bin… comprendé

Your ignorance is bliss… to you at least….. dumbarse.

please… do….. global warming aint done yet….. not while you have your spiel.

thanks danman – a whoel list of unsupportable scary ‘facts and figures’ a bit of ‘burn the witch’ social engineering propaganda in the form of ‘fake infringement notices’ intended to shame and mock smokers.

all funded by some govt dept.

this bit is good though “Cigarette butt litter is a growing problem in Australia, particularly ****since the banning of smoking in office buildings, and more recently in pubs and clubs.****”

i added some ** to highlight the idiot part. thery are amazed that by ‘banning’ a problem, its just shifted to another place.

so where are these butt landfills ? where are these mountains of butts causing real harm to society instead of this limp handwringing by indulged hausfraus because their jeremeys and naomis crawling through POSSIBLY butt infested public parks ?

if this was a real problem, as opposed to an imaginary propaganda problem, there would be EVIDENCE.

lets take the sunday CT ‘eyesore of the week’ shall we, as a popular example.

i cant recall them running ‘PILE OF BUTTS LEFT UNCHECKED IN HIGGINS’ its more likely to be ‘BUILDERS WASTE IN AMAROO’ or ‘SOFTHEAD TREEHUGGERS DENUDE CAMPGROUND WHERE SAVE THE TREES PROTEST HELD’.

i could go on.

I liked snails whan I was a tacker.

So much so I buy thenm now to cook them.

i bet he doesnt do it again though.

watch what happens when he picks up a piece of turd.

“i think a cigarette butt is like a leaf, a biodegradable piece of detritus which is unnoticeable in the streetscape.”

Unnoticed until my son puts one in his mouth and has a bit of a chew while he’s playing at the park.

and he’s not a bubble boy, he’s a normal kid who shouldn’t have to deal with smokers’ leftovers

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt11:25 am 16 May 07

“So many that I picked my son up so he didn’t fall and get dirty cigarette butts on his hands – so what is your germ introduction regime for your child ?”

He plays with the family dog and cat, makes mud pies in the backyard, climbs all over the equipment at our local park, etc.

I keep him away from the ciggarette butts because it’s a chemical issue, not a bacterial one. I also don’t like the idea of a nearly-two-year-old having to deal with the mess left by the filthy, dirty, stinking animals that are the majority of smokers.

Social pariahs? You deserve to be. It’s not going to change – maybe YOU should!

If I want to go out for a cigarette at work (Instead of going to get a coffee or whatever) – the lectures begin from all the non-smokers in my team about ‘how bad smoking is etc…” NO SH*T!! I know that! I’ve tried to quit many times and will eventually quit for good – What I don’t understand is why they don’t go tell the fat girl to put down the chocolate bar – as it is bad for her health…… Oh, that’s right. ITs not okay to harrass her, but it is me.

The fat girl isnt hurting anyone but herself by eating the chocolate bar. People smoking hurt EVERYONE around them, and the environment and the birds that think ciggie butts are food.

Im going to bring up the age old debate – Smokers choose to smoke, Passive smokers are forced to smoke, or avoid public places.
Dont think i can use the excuse at work that I dont choose to smoke therefore cant come to work becasue i cant enter the building since everyone stands at the bloody entrance in a cloud of filth..

Maybe a few shovelfuls of butts tossed into the foyers of a few buildings around town might make some people think twice about dropping their butts all over the ground outside those same buildings?

I personally think chewing gum is a much bigger curse on society than cigarette butts – at least you can pick the butts up off the ground.

Haha!!!
I have too LurkerGal.

FC has been reading “Alan Carrs easy way to quit smoking”.

A link! for all the naysayers.

litterbugs are litterbugs whether they smoke or not.

people with addictive personalities will be addicted to anything be it bingo, smokes, mars bars or whiskey.

i like a cool refreshing laramie now and then.

im not an addict. i think it must be six weeks since i had a cigarette, but i could light one up tonight if i felt like it.

my dilemma is that my preferred brand of cigarette is no longer imported as the manufacturer refused to put those disgusting propaganda images on his product.

my stash is dwindling.

i look at people smoking one of those awful shed sweeping 50 to a pack cigarettes and wonder why they do it. i went out the front with one of the work smokers last year and shared one of those. it was disgusting i asked to see the packet, unconvinced it had tobacco in it.

selecting a cigarette/tobacco takes time. big brands of cigarettes are like brewers – looking for consistency in their blend so you will prefer their tobacco over their competitors.

i am thinking of switching to a pipe. although the convenience factor of a nice cylinder of tobacco riding in ones suit jacket, easily accessed will be gone.

perhaps a pipe smoker can provide some advice.

individually i think a cigarette butt is like a leaf, a biodegradable piece of detritus which is unnoticeable in the streetscape.

if decent facilities were provided such as bin, ash trays etc, then the complaint of butts on the ground – would be gone. blame the penny pinching health nazi social engineers WHO KNOW WHATS GOOD FOR YOU AND BY CHRIST YOU WILL LISTEN for removing these public amenities and exposing waste to the citizenry.

Moore St in the city has to be one of the worst places for cigarette butts I’ve ever seen. Some of the buildings even have tailor-made bins for butts, yet the ground one metre away is littered with them.

So many that I picked my son up so he didn’t fall and get dirty cigarette butts on his hands – so what is your germ introduction regime for your child ?

Shall I look for the 15yo bubble wrapped kid in 10 odd years ?

I’m genuinely curious.

After reading a bit more, it is good to see that some smokers try to limit the damage they do by using their own portable ashtrays. being careful not to do the stupid things others do etc. Congratulations to them, and big ups to FC for constant efforts to quit. You will get there.

Any smoker emits a cloud of pungent, stinking, eye-watering, asthma-inducing garbage into the air that other people breathe. We would not be happy if people saved up and emitted their flatulence at us, and I imagine cigarette smoke is worse than that in effects on health.

(Yup, others produce horrid gases too, mostly motor vehicles. But at least there’s usually some point to them being driven, not just an addiction).

DarkLady,
I understand what you saying. This is just my opinion but I think it is a myth.

Myth: I enjoy smoking – life wouldn’t be as enjoyable without it.

Truth: Can you remember your first cigarette ? The coughing and the distaste ? No-one enjoys the first one because its poisonous and your body trys to reject it. Your body adapted to the poison – its the only mechanism for coping with the repeated onslaught as you practised – and it resulted in addiction. As an addict, when you don’t smoke for an hour or two (depending on your smoking pattern) you get very unpleasant signals (early withdrawal). Smoking doesn’t really give you pleasure – it puts off the displeasure of not smoking – which is different – and it conveniently keeps the addiction going. The next time you are in the pub or other social setting, take a look around at the smokers and non-smokers – which ones are enjoying themselves most ? Which ones are experiencing the most pleasure ? At best – you can’t tell the difference. Do the non-smokers seem somehow envious of the pleasure and enjoyment that they are missing out on ? This isn’t a trick – its the nature of addiction – it affects your beliefs.

Absent Diane8:35 am 16 May 07

Have been an off and on smoker for 14 years.. currently more addicted than ever.

don’t litter, but don’t give a fck if some shit for brains kid walks through a bunch of butts. Children should be made redundant.

DarkLadyWolfMother8:26 am 16 May 07

Just because it’s not enjoyable for you doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable for others, FC. I’ve had long discussions with two of these people, because I’ve always been curious about things like this.

They genuinely enjoy how it makes them feel. they feel more energised (which appears different to how you react). They also like the taste of it. Though that depends very much on brand. I bought one of them the wrong brand at one stage and the look on their face was comical, and telling.

Offhand, I’m an ex-smoker, and I used to love the taste. It was the other ‘side effects’ which led me to giving up.

Because actually smoking is not enjoyable. It doesn’t taste good – it saps your energy.
I believe what people are enjoying is relieving their nicotene pangs, but it is confused with ‘enjoying’ the cigarette.

Why would you not believe they enjoy it FC?

Hear hear Nyssa! Well said.

FC – I’m a ‘reformed’ smoker, up to about 2 months – if you don’t enjoy smoking, then you can *definitely* give up. I used to LOVE smoking but I’m doing OK going cold turkey.

DarkLady,
I wouldn’t really believe that they “enjoy” smoking, more that they dislike the withrawel pangs and enjoy not having them (when they are smoking).
I suppose I would say that I enjoy a cigarette with a drink, but really it is that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the drnk without a smoke because I would be having cravings. I would much prefer to be able to have an alchoholic beverage an not start getting fiddly because I want a smoke.

DarkLadyWolfMother7:41 am 16 May 07

FC, I know a few smokers who enjoy smoking, but don’t want to be smokers. They don’t want to be smokers because of the financial issues, and the health issues (mostly in that order).

But they still enjoy smoking, and I think if it wasn’t for the cost of a pack of cigarettes they probably wouldn’t want to quit that badly anyway.

apologies for all the spelling errors – I’m sure you guys can figure out what I mean.

DarkLadyWolfMother7:38 am 16 May 07

If only the same hatred was directed towards drug addicts, I doubt there’d be any.
*grin*That’s worked so well for smoking, hasn’t it?

I think there is a bit of gerneralisation going on here. I am a smoker, constantly trying to quit, but I don’t though my bits on the ground, or out the car window.
I do see many people do it though and I think it is something they do without even thinking about it.
I know a few years ago I used to flick my butts out, but the dirty looks I got from other drivers made me reconsider (consider for the first time) what I was actually doing. And now I would never do it.
It should be more about educating people instead of cursing them and saying that they are “pigs” and “animals”.
And I’ll tell you what Johnboy, out of the smokers I know, it IS a minority that throw there butts on the ground. I’ve been out on many occassions with people where there hasn’t been a bin around and myself and others have carried used butts in pockets and handbags until a bin was available.
While treating smokers as though they are some sought of scum will probably help to shame more people into quitting – it still pisses me off.
If I want to go out for a cigarette at work (Instead of going to get a coffee or whatever) – the lectures begin from all the non-smokers in my team about ‘how bad smoking is etc…” NO SH*T!! I know that! I’ve tried to quit many times and will eventually quit for good – What I don’t understand is why they don’t go tell the fat girl to put down the chocolate bar – as it is bad for her health…… Oh, that’s right. ITs not okay to harrass her, but it is me.
Do you think that if I could just wake up tomorrow and not want another cigarette I wouldn’t be jumping for joy. Of course I bloody would. Wake up and realise that most smokers are trying to be non-smokers. I do not know ONE SMOKER who enjoys being a smoker or that doesn’t want to quit!

I hate the filthy mofos who provde me with a thick veil of smoke to negotiate in order to get to my place of employment.

Our building clearly says no smoking near the entrance – yet it still happend.

And I also hate th einconsiderate people who light up in front of me on teh walk to work – therefore ensuring I have a smoke on teh way to work as well.

I dont hate smokers per-se – considering I have not had one yet this year – I am still an ex smoker not a non smoker – I just hate inconsiderate people.

I used to ask people if i could smoke in MY car when they were in it.

Oh and I think some environmental group claim that cigarette butts are the most prevalent type of litter. I along with Nyssa used those green bum shaped portable ash trays from woolies – and I used an old bottle 1/2 full of water in my car – and tossed that in a bin when done…

Ahhh, another smoking filth debate.

Good times man, good times.

As a smoker who does find a bin, I am annoyed (and that is putting it lightly at this time of the night/morning), that you would label all smokers.

I don’t even go into Civic unless absolutely necessary – once or twice a year – and I do go to the Canberra Theatre.

I take one of those little butt shaped ashtray thingys and I use it. Hell I even offer it to other smokers during interval.

tybreaker you’re right re: taxes. I pay $12 a packet at my local shops. My husband – on base – pays $3 for his. 75% mark up…nice.

I’m sick of smokers being treated as social pariahs. Ooh smoking is bad, get over it.

So is drinking, doing drugs and speeding.

If only the same hatred was directed towards drug addicts, I doubt there’d be any.

Again, don’t label all smokers because of some idiots who choose to litter. At least it wasn’t a 100 syringes. If you want that, go to the ABC flats.

auntiesocial9:45 pm 15 May 07

And it would be too hard for the cigarette companies to make the butts bio-degradable.

Ashtrays attached to the side of the public rubbish bins seems to work in Singapore.

But then we would need to have public rubbish bins.

It always amazes me how people can throw a cigarette butt in the street, and as far as they’re concerned that’s ok, but if you asked them if they’d throw a gum wrapper in the street, they wouldn’t.

For some reason, a cigarette butt isn’t litter.

and there is also the special people that feel the need to empty their weeks worth of butts from the car ashtray out their car door in public carpark…

Isn’t Australia one of the only countries in the world where smoking rates are in constant decline? I think you’re overreacting tybreaker.

Having said that it is disappointing that smokers can’t find themselves a bin

No wait, we should be encouraging smokers to quit by giving out free tobacco in special smoking rooms with expensive medical staff on hand to care for them when they succumb to the various diseases that result.

*snap* and we’re back in the room.

The government is two-faced on the matter. It taxes the product seemingly to “care” for smokers by discouraging the habit but the reason it doesn’t have the spine to make it illegal is the revenue it gets from those taxes.

It must be ripe pickings indeed because all the non-addicts have to put up with this policy and suffer the side effects of expensive public servants spending hours per week smoking on tax payer time, butts littered everywhere that pollute and often end up in places that are never cleaned by expensive council workers, burden on the health system with resulting disease care and so on.

Yep, they’re either making a mint and choosing to spend it elsewhere or nobody actually understands a budget and what impacts on it.

OpenYourMind6:24 pm 15 May 07

Don’t forget that Bonfire tells us that dropping butts is no different to trees dropping leaves.
http://the-riotact.com/?p=2233

Almost all smokers are pigs. Most cars have ashtrays, yet the smokers flick ash over the road (and anyone nearby) and chuck the butts out the window. Filthy, dangerous and stupid. The world is not your ashtray!

You can tell which buildings have lots of office workers from the discarded butts and the stink around the entrance.

My particular favourites are (a) the wandering through a crowd with a lit cigarette at a child’s eye level and (b) the urgency to be served, ahead of those waiting for much longer to buy stuff like milk – drumming fingers, calls of “oi” etc.

Seriously, it’s usually an offence to spit or swear in public. This is worse, and it’s seen as no worse than littering.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.