Should we ban filters on cigarettes?

[Bob Kane]

I saw an item on the news about the rubbish on beaches.
In this particular footage, there were quite a few cigarette filters on the shore.
So I though, why not remove the filter from the cigarette?
No more filters washing down storm water drains into the sea.
That must be good?
What about smokers, how would the removal of the filter effect them?
Who cares about smokers?
They are the ones who are polluting the environment.
Protect the environment or protect smokers?
Which would you choose?

[RollingCloud]

Clothes are the world's biggest polluter, the manufacturing, the transportation, the disposal. So probably better for the environment to not wear clothes.
P.S. I'm not a smoker. or a nudest btw
P.P.S My beach has more plastic packing beads on it from the Rena shipwreck (yes all those years later) than ciggie butts.All humankind are polluters.

[mrsaneperson]

Clothes are the world's biggest polluter, the manufacturing, the transportation, the disposal. So probably better for the environment to not wear clothes.
P.S. I'm not a smoker. or a nudest btw
P.P.S My beach has more plastic packing beads on it from the Rena shipwreck (yes all those years later) than ciggie butts.All humankind are polluters.

love it

[Bob Kane]

Me too.
I guess we are all pretty relaxed about the environment.
All the recent publicity about climate change and the Extinction Rebellion protestors has hyped up the media but not many others.

[McDuck]

I saw an item on the news about the rubbish on beaches.
In this particular footage, there were quite a few cigarette filters on the shore.
So I though, why not remove the filter from the cigarette?
No more filters washing down storm water drains into the sea.
That must be good?
What about smokers, how would the removal of the filter effect them?
Who cares about smokers?
They are the ones who are polluting the environment.
Protect the environment or protect smokers?
Which would you choose?

As a non smoker, I can't really even understand why people use cigarettes.

But as an impartial judge, I'd have to balance the grief children and spouses would feel at prematurely loosing someone to lung cancer, with biodiversity and the health of our home, this blue orb.

Possibly I would cheat, go for a third option, and look for a biodegradable lattice to suspend carbon molecules in.

A biodegradable filter. (Mushroom fiber looks promising).

Or possibly modify the cigarette box so that the filter could be put into a lower compartment after use and a refund offered for the box.
Then look at using the goodies in those filters for another product.
Make it a small round hole with slightly X rated subliminal queues, and you could leverage the primsorryate fascination with poking things in holes.
Possibly let the store owners have two prices for product.
5% off with a return, full price without.

Any child at school studying chemistry or biology (teams allowed) could get twenty thousand dollar prize (MOBD) each and every year for the best solution to the reuse.

Every problem is the start to a grand a glorious empire of riches, to the right person.
It's really "Money for old rope"
(Sorry, I couldn't resist it)