Activated carbon was produced from cigarette butts. Water contained in the raw materials influenced its activation. When the water content in the cigarette butts was 200%, increasing temperature at the rate of 5K/min and, holding at the carbonization and activation temperature of 1173K for 1h produced activated carbon with a specific surface area of about 556m(2)/g. The activated carbon had mesopores of 4nm in diameter showed adsorption capacities of 522 mg/g for iodine and 58cm(3)/g for methylene blue.