Abstract
The influence of the economic depression on the length of cigarette butts in the Federal Republic of Germany was investigated in the summer of 1974. After the interruption of the continual increase in the butt lengths of filter cigarettes and plain cigarettes by the tobacco tax rise on 1st September 1972, there was a further decrease in the butt lengths untiI August 1974. This was 0.44 mm for filter cigarettes and 1.5 mm for plain cigarettes. The lengths of butts discarded by smokers were on average