Committee passes joint (resolution)




Posted: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 11:35 am | Updated: 11:56 am, Wed Feb 10, 2016.



A proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana for recreational use squeaked out of a Senate committee this morning.

The Senate Rules Committee voted 6-4 to pass the Senate Joint Resolution 5 to its next committee without any recommendation. A previous vote to recommend the proposed amendment resulted in a 5-5 party line vote, which means it failed. But in the vote for no recommendation, Republican Sen. Ted Barela voted with Democrats.

The resolution’s sponsor, Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said the bill would mean law enforcement could focus on serious crimes instead of chasing marijuana smokers. He said the constitutional amendment route would mean state voters would have a say in the issue.


Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, said he is opposed to the measure because he doesn’t like putting it in the state constitution. However, Moores said that California and other states are expected to legalize marijuana this year.

To law enforcement officers who had spoken against the measure, he said, “Like it or not, it’s coming. It’s an issue we’re going to have to deal with.”

Moores said if the amendment makes it to the ballot, he expects New Mexico voters would approve it. (And a recent poll backs him up on that.) But he said, “It’s going to have huge negative social consequences,” so the state should figure out how to regulate legal marijuana.

But before you break out the bong to celebrate, even Ortiz y Pino doesn’t expect that to happen this year.

Earlier in the session, he said the proposed amendment has little chance of passing the Republican-controlled House even if it makes it through the Senate.

The bill now goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/new...68f2badf5.html