Santa Fe, NM – Today, New Mexico State Senator Joseph Cervantes, representing Dona Ana County, introduced Senate Bill 383 to reduce penalties for adults who possess small amounts of marijuana.  The proposed legislation reduces the penalty structure for possession of up to 4 ounces to a civil penalty with increasing fines while taking away the potential for jail time for any amount up to 8 ounces.  Currently, in New Mexico, possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana is a petty misdemeanor crime with fines and possible jail time; over 1 ounce and up to 8 ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor crime with large fines or possible jail time of up to 1 year. Similar legislation passed the House of Representatives in 2013 with bi-partisan support.

“I am troubled by the millions of taxpayer dollars that are spent every year on processing thousands of low level marijuana misdemeanor offenders — dollars that might be better spent by hard-pressed law enforcement agencies on more pressing public safety needs,” stated Emily Kaltenbach, the New Mexico State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance.  “If ever there was a bill that advanced the smart on crime agenda, this is it.”

Read more here: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2015/01/new-mexico-state-senator-joseph-cervantes-introduces-bill-reduce-penalties-possession-s