No. It's not that simple. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litter#Who.27s_to_blame_for_litter.3F Seeing as cigarette butts are made from "cellulose", which comes from wood, they don't really NEED to decompose. A cigarette butt is no more harmful to the environment than a toothpick.

According to the California Coastal Commission, cigarette butts take 200 years to decompose. http://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/youth/coastalquiz.html

i saw 7 years but could be wrong 30% of street litter is fags ends and packs ( no offense to gays )each tab end should be taxed a dollar .

cigarette filters are actually almost as good for the environment as pearlite

Yes. 1) "- Cigarettes are the number one source of litter in the world, with an estimated several trillion littered annually. - Cigarette butts are NOT biodegradable -- they are made of plastic fibers. - Littered cigarette filters contain toxic chemicals which are released into the environment. - Cigarette litter causes numerous fires every year, many of which are fatal." Source and further information: http://www.cigarettelitter.org/index.asp?pagename=Email 2) "f we want to ban things because they may end up as litter, then the list of things to ban will be very long and will have to include: Cigarettes (the number one source of litter), chewing gum, soda cans, beer cans, soda bottles, beer bottles, water bottles, disposable paper cups, newspapers, etc." Source and further information: http://savetheplasticbag.com/ReadContent606.aspx 3) "Cigarette butts are the number one source of litter in the U.S. representing over 34% of all debris collected in community cleanups. Food wrappers, caps and lids, and beverage bottles are the next most littered items. Cigarettes are not biodegradable, in fact, the white fibers in the filters are not cotton, but are composed of cellulose acetate which is a plastic designed to capture toxins. “Its very purpose is to trap chemicals, so in those butts there are chemicals that can leach out into the soil and groundwater,” said Jane Ferry of Keep Orlando Beautiful. Environmental conditions vary, but cigarette filters may take anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to degrade." Source and further information: http://www.cityoforlando.net/Executive/Communications/news/06_08_18_kob.htm 4) "Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate and is biodegradable, however depending on environmental conditions it can be resistant to degradation. Accordingly, the duration of the degradation process is cited as taking as little as 1 month to 3 years to as long as 10-15 years. This variance in rate and resistance to biodegradation in many conditions is a factor in littering and environmental damage. It is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts become litter every year. In the 2006 International Coastal Cleanup, cigarettes and cigarette butts constituted 24.7% of the total collected garbage, over twice as much as any other category. Cigarette butts contain the chemicals filtered from cigarettes and can leach into waterways and water supplies. Cellulose acetate and carbon particles breathed in from cigarette filters is suspected of causing lung damage." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette#Cigarette_litter