Reacting to an amendment to the New Mexico State Legislature's alcohol reform bill, some gas stations in New Mexico have stopped selling gas altogether. What seems like a counterintuitive decision to outsiders has been called a "no-brainer" by Benjamin Gonzales, manager of the El Sabino's grocery and gas station in Vanderwagen. 

The amendment that went into effect on July 1 gave gas stations in McKinley County the choice between selling hard liquor and gas, the Albuquerque Journal reported. 

In the time since that law went into effect, at least three gas stations have stopped selling gas in the county, leading to some motorists being stranded and inconveniencing thousands of others. 

The amendment was passed in an effort to curb drunk driving, but many gas stations simply stopped selling gas to preserve their profits. 

State Sen. George Munoz wasn't a fan of the decision. “I think they made a moral choice, a financial choice. They probably weren’t pumping that much gas. They were just really liquor stores with a gas pump outside,” he told the Albuquerque Journal.

But Brett Kokinadis, 2nd Vice Chair Santa Fe Republicans, supported the station owners. "Profits are the purpose of being in business Sen. Muñoz," Kokinadis wrote in a tweet. "Are you really that disconnected from reality? You sir, do not belong in the Senate. It seems the agenda is to kill our economy in any way possible."

According to Gonzales, his El Sabino station makes about $8,000 a day on hard liquor sales but only $2,000 a day on gas. He defended the decision of the station, saying, “Everyone’s complaining that we should have kept the gas and got rid of the liquor, and this, that and the third, but people just don’t understand. I mean, if we would have done that, several of our employees would have lost their job, you know, or had their hours cut.”

Legislators in the region continue to struggle to curb drunk driving and other problems stemming from increased alcohol consumption.