A. It is unlawful for any person:
(1) who is a registrant to distribute a controlled substance classified in Schedules [Schedule] I or II [30-31-6 or 30-31-7 NMSA 1978], except pursuant to an order form as required by Section 30-31-17 NMSA 1978;
(2) to intentionally use in the course of the manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance a registration number which is fictitious, revoked, suspended or issued to another person;
(3) to intentionally acquire or obtain, or attempt to acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge;
(4) to intentionally furnish false or fraudulent material information in, or omit any material information from, any application, report or other document required to be kept or filed under the Controlled Substances Act [30-31-1 NMSA 1978], or any record required to be kept by that act; or
(5) to intentionally make, distribute or possess any punch, die, plate, stone or other thing designed to print, imprint or reproduce the trademark, trade name or other identifying mark, imprint or device of another or any likeness of any of the foregoing, upon any drug or container or labeling thereof so as to render the drug a counterfeit substance.
B. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978.
HISTORY:
1953 54-11-25, enacted by Laws 1972, ch. 84, § 25; 1974, ch. 9, § 6; 1979, ch. 122, § 1; 1980, ch. 23, § 6.
Notes to Decisions
Constitutionality.
When appealing conviction for attempting to obtain a controlled substance, a violation of 30-31-25A(3) NMSA 1978, the defendant contended that the words “deception” and “subterfuge” were common and had general meanings, unlike “fraud”, “forgery”, and “misrepresentation”, so that 30-31-25A(3) NMSA 1978 was an amorphous, catch-all statute that tended to include a wide variety of crimes; this failed because 30-31-25A(3) NMSA 1978 proscribed the intentional acquisition or attempted acquisition of a controlled substance by false means, whether by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception, or subterfuge and although including deception and subterfuge may have expanded the types of conduct included in the statute, the additional terms were not too general or overly broad in nature. State v. Mirabal, 1989-NMCA-057, 108 N.M. 749, 779 P.2d 126, 1989 N.M. App. LEXIS 53 (N.M. Ct. App. 1989).
Generally.
Under 30-31-25A(3) NMSA 1978 it is unlawful for any person to intentionally acquire or obtain, or attempt to acquire or obtain possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge. State v. Carr, 1981-NMCA-029, 95 N.M. 755, 626 P.2d 292, 1981 N.M. App. LEXIS 694 (N.M. Ct. App. 1981), cert. denied, 95 N.M. 669, 625 P.2d 1186, 1981 N.M. LEXIS 2288 (N.M. 1981), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 853, 102 S. Ct. 298, 70 L. Ed. 2d 145, 1981 U.S. LEXIS 3536 (U.S. 1981), overruled, State v. Olguin, 1994-NMCA-050, 118 N.M. 91, 879 P.2d 92, 1994 N.M. App. LEXIS 56 (N.M. Ct. App. 1994).
Attempt.
The New Mexico legislature intended to punish attempts specifically as felonies under 30-31-25A(3) NMSA 1978 and consequently, 30-28-1 NMSA 1978 does not apply to those attempts covered by 30-31-25A(3) NMSA 1978; whether a defendant’s act is a completed forgery or an attempted forgery, 30-31-25A(3) NMSA 1978 proscribes the attempt to acquire a controlled substance, notwithstanding the subtleties of the general attempt statute. State v. Mirabal, 1989-NMCA-057, 108 N.M. 749, 779 P.2d 126, 1989 N.M. App. LEXIS 53 (N.M. Ct. App. 1989).
Search and seizure.
Defendant was convicted of unlawful possession of a narcotic drug under former 54-7-2, 1953 Comp. and former 54-7-13, 1953 Comp.; defendant was not entitled to relief from his possession conviction because an informant’s statement that he made numerous purchases of heroin at the residence to be searched supported a finding of probable cause for the issuance of a warrant. State v. Archuleta, 1973-NMCA-062, 85 N.M. 146, 509 P.2d 1341, 1973 N.M. App. LEXIS 707 (N.M. Ct. App.), cert. denied, 85 N.M. 145, 509 P.2d 1340, 1973 N.M. LEXIS 1336 (N.M. 1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 876, 94 S. Ct. 85, 38 L. Ed. 2d 121, 1973 U.S. LEXIS 890 (U.S. 1973).