With drug overdoses reaching record levels, the latest Fox News Poll finds that Americans are most likely to lay the blame at the feet of drug cartels and pharmaceutical companies. Individuals, doctors, and the federal government get less blame.
The survey, released Thursday, finds 27% blame cartels while 25% fault pharmaceutical companies for the opioid crisis in the U.S. Another 11% blame the government and 7% point the finger at doctors, while less than 1-in-5 blame the drug users themselves (18%).
Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to think the pharmaceutical companies are the problem (34% vs. 16%), while Republicans are more likely to blame cartels (37% vs. 20% of Democrats).
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The views of parents look like those of the population more generally. The largest number blame the crisis on the drug cartels (29%), followed by pharmaceutical companies (24%), opioid users (16%), the government (14%), and doctors (8%).
Opioid addiction across the country is a top concern to voters with 76% extremely or very worried. The only issues tested they find more concerning are inflation (86%), higher crime rates (80%), and political divisions (78%).
On the personal front, 4-in-10 voters are extremely or very concerned about addiction or overdoses affecting their family.
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As could be expected, parents are among the most worried: 52% are concerned the crisis will affect their family and like most other Americans, about three-quarters (74%) of parents are concerned about the spread of opioid addiction nationwide.
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Conducted January 27-30, 2023, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,003 registered voters nationwide who were randomly selected from a voter file and spoke with live interviewers on both landlines and cellphones. The total sample has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
