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“Mingle” and the “Rule of Six”

“Mingle” and the “Rule of Six”

On September 14, 2020, a word that is rarely seen in English legislation – “mingle” – was inserted into the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) Regulations 2020 (SI 2020/684) by SI 2020 No.988. The latter revised the rules relating to “gatherings” that now seek to give legislative effect to the so-called “rule of six”. But what do the expressions “mingle” and “rule of six” actually mean? See: [Link].

Regulating public health on ‘Super Saturday’

Regulating public health on ‘Super Saturday’

On the 4th July 2020 (styled by the media as “Super Saturday”) pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and cinemas were reopened in England “after a major relaxation of lockdown curbs”.  Although changes to the ‘rules’ were announced many days in advance, it was not until late afternoon on the 3rd July that the Government published two sets of regulations for England: one specific to the town of Leicester, and the other applicable to the remainder of England.  The revised regulations are very different in content and structure from those that it revoked.  An earlier posting by this commentator has been critical of the open-textured drafting of the health protection regulations. The revised regulations are open to the same criticism [see Link].
See the contributions of other commentators and academics via the ‘Responding to the Covid-19 blog‘, Queen Mary University of London, Criminal Justice Centre: [Link].

Covid 19 legal issues

Covid 19 legal issues

Many people have been very confused about what they can and cannot do under the law during ‘lock-down’.   This is hardly surprising given the open textured drafting of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 (now heavily amended).  Furthermore, discussions have conflated legal rules and “guidelines”.   For my blog posting on this topic, see “Open textured legislation in the times of Covid-19: ‘reasonable excuse’ and legal certainty’” (which appears on the QMUL, Criminal Justice Centre blog) [Link].

See the contributions of other commentators and academics via the ‘Responding to the Covid-19 blog‘, Queen Mary University of London, Criminal Justice Centre: [Link].

Revising UK drug policy

Revising UK drug policy

Notwithstanding that the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee was constrained to limit its inquiry, its short Report “Drugs policy” (First Report of Session 2019–20: 23 Oct 2019) [Link] provides further support (if such were needed) that: (i) there is “clear need for evidence-led policy on drugs”, (ii) “Holistic, non-judgemental harm reduction approaches are needed which facilitate access to services”, and (iii) (among other matters) that on-site drug checking and “Drug Consumption Rooms should be introduced on a pilot basis in areas of high need, accompanied by robust evaluation of their outcomes”.  The Committee urged the Government and other policy makers “not to shy away from the lessons from Portugal and Frankfurt, but to take a harm reduction approach and implement the recommendations set out in this report without delay” [p.25].
DCRs have long been of interest to this commentator: see [Link], noting certain legal issues that relate to them [Link].

Festival drug deaths and onsite drug testing

Festival drug deaths and onsite drug testing

Today has brought news of another tragic death, at a music festival, that is suspected to be drug-related – this time, at the Leeds music festival [Link]. “The Loop“, which provides onsite front-of-house drug-testing and counselling services, was not in attendance (and it had not been invited to attend). The Loop is renowned as the UK’s 1st and (currently) only ‘drug checking’ or ‘drug safety testing’ service to the public that is staffed by a team of volunteers that include chemists and pharmacists who are committed to reducing the UK’s record drug-related death rate [Link].
No drug-testing service could ever guarantee a death-free event, but the evidence is mounting of its effectiveness as a harm-reduction service. Most festival-goers have long passed into adulthood and they exercise personal autonomy. They do not want to be patronised, or advised “be careful about what you’re taking”. What they do want is information – even if that includes onsite drug testing.