The Malta Sociological Association has said that the proposed drug victim reform process “should be guided by evidence, not partisan interests.”

The sociologists expressed disappointment that the public consultation process on the drug victims reform is “being sensationalised and subjected to partisan interests.”

“It would be much more fruitful to have a mature, evidence based deliberative process on this public consultation, involving different stakeholders,” the Association said.

The Malta Sociological Association recommended that this policy reform employs a social impact assessment in an ongoing process.

The International Principles for Social Impact Assessment defines SIA as being “the processes of analysing, monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions,” it said.

The Association added, “an SIA is an interdisciplinary process, and should employ various methods, both quantitative and qualitative.”

The Malta Sociological Association concluded by saying that the “social impact assessments should not be one-off exercises: To the contrary, they should be ongoing processes which engage with various stakeholders and which report back so as to ensure effective policy processes.”

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