Graffiti Solution? outlaw Sale of Spray Paint Cans

Betsy Bates’ article on the effects of graffiti (“Getting Graffiti Off the Wall,” July 28) failed to mention the solution. Graffiti is an expensive embarrassment and is growing exponentially to epidemic proportions. The annual $150 million remediation cost quoted in the article is merely Band-Aiding a cancerous growth. Painting over the damage doesn’t stop it.

As a property owner in Los Angeles, I too am sick and tired of being victimized. Taggers are addicts: addicted to self-aggrandizement in a perverse and destructive form. The solution is simple. Take away the taggers’ weapon of choice, the spray paint can, and you’ve solved 96% of the problem. The present law prohibiting their sale to minors is almost universally disregarded by merchants.

It’s time the newspapers, politicians, and public interest groups push for legislation which will completely outlaw the sale of spray paint cans. Oregon did it; why can’t California? Whoever gets that law enacted should get an airport named after him (or her).

PETER L. FITZPATRICK

Pasadena