ISLAND VOICES
The world is their ashtray

By Terence C. Wade
Honolulu psychologist who helps people overcome "bad" habits such as smoking

Mark casually dropped his still-burning cigarette out the window of his car without a second thought as he braked for the Vineyard light before turning left on Bishop Street to go to work downtown. His butt would soon be indistinguishable from the hundreds of thousands of other butts that fringe Honolulu's city streets.

Later, Mark would spend his breaks outside his office building smoking, just as a multitude of other employees do every day throughout the city, and drop his butts on the sidewalk.

No one will say anything to Mark or his fellow smokers. Their butts have been accumulating there so long that no one consciously notices them anymore. They are part of our landscape.

How many butts are there?

Obviously, no one knows. But every year, Mark and his fellow Hawai'i smokers consume about 2 billion cigarettes — enough to cover a football field 8 feet deep from goal post to goal post. What is left over is smoke in the air and butts everywhere. Our world is their ashtray.

What can be done?

Mark is a criminal. All the smokers who drop and flip burning butts out of car windows, crush them out on our sidewalks, stomp them into our grass and stick them in the sand of our beaches are criminals.

Hawaii Revised Statutes ¤708-829 states that "A person commits the offense of criminal littering if that person knowingly places, throws, or drops litter on any public or private property."

Criminal littering is a petty misdemeanor that carries legal sanctions. The court may sentence any person convicted of committing the offense of criminal littering as follows:

• Four hours of either picking up litter on public property or performing community service.
• For any subsequent offense, eight hours of either picking up litter on public property or performing community service.
• A fine of at least $25, but not more than $500.

In addition, legal consequences would help motivate Mark and his fellow smokers to quit. Studies show that "addicted" people are primarily motivated by negative consequences, not by the possibility of positive rewards or benefits. If the consequences aren't negative enough, or the addicted person can find a way to avoid the consequences, he continues or resumes his addictive behavior. That means arresting and sentencing litterers like Mark would be doing them a favor.

Who are the smokers?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, smokers in the Hawai'i population include 19.5 percent of adults (22.3 percent of males and 16.7 percent of females) and 29.2 percent of youths (grades 9-12). That comes out to 160,000 adult smokers in Hawai'i, plus lots and lots of kids.

What happens to all that smoke?

It kills the smokers. According to the surgeon general, tobacco is the single greatest cause of disease and premature death in America and is responsible for more than 430,000 deaths each year. Nearly 25 percent of adult Americans currently smoke, and 3,000 children and adolescents become regular users of tobacco every day. (That is over four times more than alcohol.) Extrapolating national data to Hawai'i, the total is about 1,800 deaths per year.

It costs everyone. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that smoking-related illnesses cost America $100 billion annually, half of which is for direct medical care. Lost productivity and forfeited earnings due to smoking-related disability account for another $47 billion per year.

Applying those data to Hawai'i, the total is $100 million for medical care and another $94 million in lost productivity and earnings.

It may kill the rest of us. Nearly 9 out of 10 nonsmoking Americans are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke as measured by the levels of a metabolite of nicotine in their blood, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control.

According to the U.S. surgeon general, "Stopping smoking is the single most important step that smokers can take to enhance the length and quality of their lives."

Help is available. Ranging from medically based treatment involving nicotine replacement to hypnosis, smokers can find effective help.

Today's a good day to start: It's the Great American Smokeout.