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Candelaria said felony penalties for possession of small amounts of illegal drugs are unnecessarily dividing families and preventing access to gainful employment and public housing.

“A felony conviction leads to what we call ‘civil death,’ ” he said. “You are ostracized from the community; you have a difficult time accessing any public support, including public housing; the doors to higher education are shut closed to you almost forever.”

At the same time, the state says to do better and break addiction, he added.

The bill as currently written does not tie misdemeanor charges to specific drug quantities.

New Mexico Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur said prosecutors and police would retain discretion over the severity of drug charges based on individual circumstances and whether there is evidence of drug dealing.

Without the changes, he said tiny quantities of drugs – such as the residue in a drug pipe – can trigger felony convictions and jail time.

“This bill is really part of a movement toward treating the use of substances in a different and more effective way,” Baur said. “It’s a movement across the country.”

The Democratic-led Legislature is taking up an array of initiatives on drug policy and criminal justice under new Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The bill to reclassify drug possession does not address past convictions.

A separate bill this year would set policies for the expungement of criminal records and allocate funding for programs that divert nonviolent drug users to treatment programs rather than jail.