Cigarette Clean-Up Fee Passes San Francisco’s Board Vote
San Francisco, CA - They’re everywhere. On the streets, in gutters; even collecting in pools of water. Little orange and white rolls of paper and tobacco. Cigarettes. Once used, these unfriendly remains haunt our down towns and our backyards. But it’s time to say goodbye to the orange and white…in San Francisco at least. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee unanimously supported a measure that will help get rid of the stubs of used cigarettes.
The measure would increase the price of cigarettes by $0.20 per pack. The hike in price isn’t simply to discourage the purchase of cigarettes, but to help mitigate the costs of cigarette clean-up, relying on those who use cigarettes to help clean up.
Studies done by the city show that 25% of all litter found on sidewalks and in gutters is cigarette related. The $0.20 per pack of cigarettes would be reported and remitted on a regular basis by the retailers who collect the money at the counter. The funds would then be dispersed by the city for use in litter collection.
“All litter creates unnecessary costs for the city and its taxpayers,” said Mayor Newsom. “Cigarette butts are a big part of the problem.” Newsom, who commended the Board for their support of the fee on Monday, June 29, included this fee as a line item in his June 1 budget and introduced this legislation to enact a regulatory fee to recover these costs from the consumers of cigarettes.
Not only are cigarette butts eyesores, but they are harmful to the environment as well. ”Cigarette butts contain benzene and toxic heavy metals that can poison the marine environment and leach into groundwater,” said Newsom.
According to Newsom, researchers at San Diego State University have found that chemicals found in just one filtered cigarette butt can kill all living fish in a one liter bucket of water.
While the fee looked strong in its first reading on Monday, it could still be stomped out by the complete Board next week at its decisive vote.
Photo Credit: fragglerawker_03 via flickr under Creative Commons License
Fine but watching fat slobs walking around (slowly) and realizing they will be running up the health cost tab more is even worse - there are more of them than smokers any more.