Poll: Americans more optimistic about gov’t handling of illegal drugs

Nov. 5 (UPI) — Americans are more optimistic about how the country is dealing with the problem of illegal drugs than in the past, according to Gallup poll data released Wednesday.

After hitting record-low 24% in 2023, the amount of Americans who believe the country has made progress in dealing with the problem of illegal drugs has jumped to 45%, the highest Gallup has recorded since 2000. The amount who say the United States has fallen behind has dropped from a record-high 52% to a record-low 23%, Gallup said.

The Gallup annual crime poll was conducted Oct. 1-16. It found that 10% of Americans believe the country has made “much” progress in coping with the problem of illegal drugs, the highest in the trend by 4 percentage points.

The numbers also vary greatly between political parties. There has been a surge in optimism among Republicans as President Donald Trump ramps up attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, Gallup said. He has also called drug cartels “terrorists” and increased tariffs on countries that he has accused of not doing their parts to stop smuggling.

Now, 74% of Republicans say much or some progress has been made, which is up 62 points from 2023. It’s a new high for the GOP. Among independents, optimism is up 13%, and optimism among Democrats is down by 7%, Gallup said.

Americans also perceive the problem to be more serious elsewhere in the country. About 70% say the drug problem in the United States is very or extremely serious, while 29% believe the same of their local areas, Gallup said.

Gallup found that support for marijuana legalization has dropped.

A majority of adults, 64%, in the United States believe the use of marijuana should be legal, which is slightly lower than in 2019. Between 2020 and 2024, the amount in favor of legal marijuana was between 68% and 70%.

This decline is mostly led by Republicans, whose support has dropped by 13% in the past year, Gallup said. That’s the lowest in that group in a decade. Democrats support legalization by 85%, and independents by 66%, which is similar to recent years’ results.

For the poll, Gallup interviewed a random sample of 1,000 Americans age 18 and older in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The margin of error was 4 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.