Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis plans to introduce a motion at today's board meeting that would take a major step and ban major music festivals on county property pending an investigation into the deaths of two women this past weekend at HARD Summer music festival, which took place on at the Pomona fairgrounds.
The women have been identified as 18-year-old Tracy Nguyen and 19-year-old Katie Dix. It is believed that the two teenagers died of drug overdoses, but autopsies and toxicology screens will take weeks to deliver the final results.
"I am deeply troubled by the fact that this is the third such death to happen in my district in the last year and a half," Solis said about the deaths via Fox 11. "No one -- no one should have to lose their life while attending a public concert."
The ban seems targeted at large-scale EDM festivals that have been the ire of Los Angeles County officials for decades. Electric Daisy Carnival was kicked out of the city after a 15-year-old died in 2010 after taking drugs during their annual event at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The ban would affect other very large non-EDM festivals for the rest of the summer. FYF Fest is scheduled to take place on Aug. 22 and 23 and will feature the likes of Frank Ocean and Morrissey. The festival will take place at Exposition Park and Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
In 2010, county health officials are issued a set of recommendations to try and curb the number of drug-related incidents at festivals, which include ample water stations, sufficient security and adequate pathways for emergency responders. It also included contractually enforcing a "zero tolerance drug policy" with promoters who want to host events on county land.
That zero tolerance policy has been the stance of health officials and insurance companies all across the United States with increasing severity, despite increasing evidence that in fact some testing and regulation does work.
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