How much is a life worth?

Marijuana is easily available for $20; three lines of cocaine run $10. LSD can be had for $5 or $10. Ecstasy pills are worth $5 to $15 each.

Tickets to the May 29 Pop 2010 rave at the Cow Palace were approximately $85 apiece at the door. Parking was $20. Bottled water was $3. The event drew approximately 16,500 attendees, and the promoter reportedly paid $75,000 in rent to the Cow Palace, which is owned and operated by the California Department of Agriculture.

Pop 2010 resulted in two drug-related deaths, plus another half-dozen hospitalized for a variety of drug-related symptoms, some life-threatening. As of June 14, several remain in Bay Area hospitals. At the event, more than 100 law enforcement officers from 25 local, state and federal agencies arrested 73 - including five minors - on various drug charges and seized some 800 tablets of ecstasy, plus varying amounts of LSD, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, and thousands in cash.

It was not the first time.

Drug-related arrests at multiple Cow Palace raves from 2003 through 2009 total more than 255, and a 2002 New Year's Eve rave at the Cow Palace resulted in two fatal overdoses.

The pattern here is obvious and cannot continue.

Add up all the associated police, emergency medical and hospital expenses, and the costs are staggering. However the real costs are borne by the people of the surrounding residential neighborhood. They must deal with the aftermath of events that attract countless drug dealers from as far away as Los Angeles and Seattle. If the Cow Palace, as a public facility, were under the jurisdiction of San Mateo County, a rave-type event would most likely be prohibited as being an incompatible use.

In all fairness, the majority of the Pop 2010 attendees had nothing to do with illegal drug use or distribution. They were there for the music and the social aspects of a large, all-night, electronic dance party. The promoter cooperated with law enforcement and all attendees were informed about undercover officers being in the crowd.

Those involved with illegal substances generally do so regardless of time and location and regardless of whether or not the Cow Palace can or cannot host raves.

However, that is not the point.

By itself, an electronic music festival is simply a highly profitable, commercial event catering to those who enjoy listening and dancing to that genre of music. No problem. However, in reality, such events also attract drug dealers from hundreds of miles away, while draining law enforcement and public health resources. In reality, a rave at the Cow Palace killed two - again.

Giant dance parties with thousands of attendees, dozens of drug-related arrests, running until 2 a.m. are absolutely incompatible with a residential neighborhood.

Are raves appropriate for the Cow Palace? Are two lives worth $75,000?

No.