Three-Quarters in U.S. Describe Drug Problem as Extremely or Very Serious
In addition to asking Americans to gauge U.S. progress against illegal drugs, Gallup asked them to evaluate the seriousness of the drug problem today, both nationally and in their local area.
Currently, 74% of U.S. adults describe the drug problem in the nation as either extremely or very serious, up from 64% the last time the question was asked in 2021 but similar to the 2019 reading of 73%. The record high of 83% was measured in 2000, the first year the question was asked.
Americans are much less likely to see the drug problem in their local area as serious, with 35% saying it is extremely (19%) or very (16%) serious. The current combined “extremely/very serious” figure essentially ties with the 34% from 2000 as the highest in the trend, although the percentages have ranged narrowly between 29% and 35% over the years.
While the 74% describing the national drug problem as extremely or very serious is not the high point in Gallup’s trend, the 45% who currently say the problem is extremely serious is the highest, by two percentage points, over the 43% reading from 2000. Those are the only surveys to date in which more than 40% said the drug problem was extremely serious.
Majorities of all party groups say the U.S. illegal drug problem is serious, including 86% of Republicans, 74% of independents and 63% of Democrats. Republicans (62%) are twice as likely as Democrats (31%) to view the problem as extremely serious.
Republicans and independents rate the situation in their local area similarly, with 40% of Republicans and 37% of independents saying the local drug problem is extremely or very serious. Democrats, at 27%, are less inclined to believe this.