As Los Angeles has risen in the ranks of awesome music festival destinations (FYF Fest and HARD Summer among them), so has the government's attention to all the illegalities, hardships, and grim news that sometimes arises out of intense festival weekends.

Take this past weekend's HARD Summer in Pomona, California, for instance. Two 19-year-old women passed away after drug related incidents, and another 29 festies were reportedly treated for alcohol or drug-related health issues. In 2014, another teenage girl died of a drug overdose at HARD. These past incidents (of which there are many), alongside the enormous possibility of similar incidents due to the prevalence of drug use at fests big and small, have prompted Los Angeles County to re-examine a proposed ban on music festivals on County property altogether.

According to Billboard.com, county supervisors ordered the county's chief executive to look into a moratorium on Tuesday (August 4) in order to prevent future tragedies. They also voted to investigate the deaths of the two women at HARD Summer, which took place on county-owned land. The Los Angeles Times reports that county officials will be looking closely at the next HARD event, which happens September 10, in order to make sure more preventable deaths do not occur.

We all want to keep our fellow festies safe. If Los Angeles doesn't ban music festivals altogether, the question for county officials (and pretty much the festival industry at large) is then whether to treat drug use at festivals as a law enforcement issue or a public health issue. Should festivals enforce stricter bans, more security, more thorough screening at fest entry gates? Or should festivals pour resources into providing free water (to everyone, but especially at festivals where cash-strapped college students abound), open, calm spaces for rest and relaxation, as well as education and harm reduction services at the events themselves?

Whatever happens, we just hope all sides – fest organizers, attendees, musicians, and the government – can work together to maintain a safe and happy fest environment, and to learn from each other the best ways to make that a reality.