Quincy Advances Ban on Discarded Cigarette Butts

Quincy is moving forward with a push to snuff out cigarette butts discarded in public.

The Quincy Herald-Whig reports that the western Illinois city's aldermanic board on Monday took up a local measure that would classify cigarette butts as litter.

That ordinance, which would mirror the state law that takes effect Jan. 1, would give Quincy the option of issuing tickets to offenders. The Quincy measure also would include filtered cigarette butts, which wasn't part of the state law.

The maximum fine under the proposed ordinance would be $500 — half of the possible state fine.

The ordinance likely will be up for a vote at the council's Dec. 23 meeting.