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New Mexico Workers Compensation Act

Alcohol & Your Bottom Line

Excerpt on alcohol and drug use:

52-1-11. Injuries due to intoxication, willfulness or intention of worker are noncompensable.

No compensation shall become due or payable from any employer under the terms of the Workers' Compensation Act [this article] in event such injury was occasioned by the intoxication of such worker or willfully suffered by him or intentionally inflicted by himself.

52-1-12. Compensation prohibited when worker under influence of certain drugs.

No compensation is payable from any employer under the provisions of the Workers' Compensation Act [Chapter 52, Article 1 NMSA 1978] if the injury to the person claiming compensation was occasioned solely by the person being under the influence of a depressant, stimulant or hallucinogenic drug as defined in the New Mexico Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act [Chapter 26, Article 1 NMSA 1978] or under the influence of a narcotic drug as defined in the Controlled Substances Act [30-31-1 NMSA 1978] unless the drug was dispensed to the person upon the prescription of a practitioner licensed by law to prescribe the drug or administered to the person by any person authorized by a licensed practitioner to administer the drug.

52-1-12.1. Reduction in compensation when alcohol or drugs contribute to injury or death.

The compensation otherwise payable a worker pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act [Chapter 51, Article 1 NMSA 1978] shall be reduced ten percent in cases in which the injury to or death of a worker is not occasioned by the intoxication of the worker as stated in Section 52-1-11 NMSA 1978 or occasioned solely by drug influence as described in Section 52-1-12 NMSA 1978, but voluntary intoxication or being under the influence of a depressant, stimulant or hallucinogenic drug as defined in the New Mexico Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act [Chapter 26, Article 1 NMSA 1978] or under the influence of a narcotic drug as defined in the Controlled Substances Act [30-31-1 NMSA 1978], unless the drug was dispensed to the person upon the prescription of a practitioner licensed by law to prescribe the drug or administered to the person by any person authorized by a licensed practitioner to administer the drug, is a contributing cause to the injury or death. Test results used as evidence of intoxication or drug influence shall not be considered in making a determination of intoxication or drug influence unless the test and testing procedures conform to the federal department of transportation "procedures for transportation workplace drug and alcohol testing programs" and the test is performed by a laboratory certified to do the testing by the federal department of transportation.