Ban smoking in public areas and add a $2 deposit

Taken from Thursday’s edition of The Dori Monson Show.

There’s a little bit of government I’m going to agree with today.

Seattle park commissioners want to ban smoking in all Seattle parks.

Related: Seattle commissioners fighting to ban smoking in parks

They want to make it illegal to smoke in all public areas in the City of Seattle.

This is one that I agree with.

On any given day, I grab my cellphone, walk outside, and I can count 50 cigarette butts within about 15 steps anywhere, on any street of Seattle.

Some smokers – a very small percentage – are courteous. The vast majority throw their butts out on the street, in the parks, on the beach. On beaches, butts are the most littered item in the world, with an estimated 5 trillion each year.

Solution: I spoke with a state senator in Maine. He wants to put a deposit on cigarettes.

We should make smokers pay a $2 deposit on every cigarette pack. You want your $2 back? You bring 20 cigarette butts to the recycle center.

Here’s the brilliance of this plan. If you’re a smoker who litters, you’re going to have homeless people picking up your cigarette butts, cleaning the streets, and making a fortune.

What’s the downside to this plan?

There would be no more cigarette butt litter.

In the meantime, they’re talking about banning cigarette smoking in the parks. I support that one.

Taken from Thursday’s edition of The Dori Monson Show.

KR