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Gaol Fever: What COVID-19 Tells us about the War on Drugs

Rick Lines, Naomi Burke-Shyne, Giada Girelli

Health and Human Rights Journal

Swansea University Author: Rick Lines

Abstract

This Health and Human Rights Journal Viewpoint explores the link between prison overcrowding, punitive drugs laws and the COVID-19 response. Using historical cases of 'gaol fever' in British prisons as a reference point, it makes the case that the COVID-19 pandemic should lead to a radical...

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Published in: Health and Human Rights Journal
Published: 2020
Online Access: https://www.hhrjournal.org/2020/04/gaol-fever-what-covid-19-tells-us-about-the-war-on-drugs/
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54004
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Abstract: This Health and Human Rights Journal Viewpoint explores the link between prison overcrowding, punitive drugs laws and the COVID-19 response. Using historical cases of 'gaol fever' in British prisons as a reference point, it makes the case that the COVID-19 pandemic should lead to a radical rethinking of the drug laws that drive mass incarceration. The commentary includes a table that documents for the first time COVID-19 related prisoner releases in over 50 countries.
Keywords: COVID-19, prison, prison health, human rights