Views on the U.S. Opioid Crisis: A BPC-Morning Consult Poll

Sixty-one percent of Americans consider the misuse of opioids in the U.S. to be a major public health emergency, a belief held by a majority of people from each political party: 66% of Democrats, 58% of Republicans, and 57% of independents. Another 21% of adults consider the misuse of opioids in the U.S. to be a minor public health emergency.

Did You Know? Though partially overshadowed by the attention given to the COVID-19 pandemic, drug overdose mortality rates have risen approximately 30% since 2019, and the U.S. surpassed 100,000 deaths in a 12-month period during 2021. While discussing the crisis in terms of related deaths is the best way to appreciate the scope of the opioid epidemic, a lag in data means that we don’t fully understand the crisis’ impact until 6 to 18 months after the fact.

American adults are more likely to think the opioid crisis is a major problem in the U.S. (68%) than in their own state (53%) or even their community (36%).

Did You Know? A Pew survey from May 2022 found that public concern about addiction is down, even in areas of the U.S. where drug overdose death rates have increased the most.

When comparing the treated prevalence—or the number of people being treated for a given disease—for opioid use disorders between patients in Medicaid expansion vs. non-expansion states, BPC found that there are about 2 to 3 times more people in treatment in expansion states.

An adult who is from a low-income or minority community is less likely to say the opioid crisis is a major problem in those communities than adults who are not.

Did You Know? The demographics among those with the highest drug overdose mortality are shifting from white Americans in the Northeast: mortality has increased by 81% among both Black Americans and Native Americans, and by 67% in the West since 2019.

• About one-third of Americans think it would be difficult to find convenient (29%), effective (31%), or affordable (36%) care for opioid addiction.

Did You Know? Despite historic levels of federal investments—$6.7 billion in discretionary spending and roughly four times that amount in Medicaid spending to be exact—in opioid-related programs, lawmakers are unsure whether these investments are having an impact. And speaking of impact: 15% of adults have been directly impacted by opioid addiction, while 30% of adults know someone who has been directly impacted by opioid addiction.

Is Congress doing enough? Most Americans say no. So, what can and should be done moving forward to combat the epidemic?

Looking Forward

With a lack of actionable data, it is difficult to know where and how dollars are being spent, and whether these dollars are lowering mortality rates and improving patient outcomes. BPC has recommended introducing actionable surveillance metrics and health service delivery metrics to better understand the state of the opioids crisis. In doing so, federal funds could be more effectively leveraged and applied to programs that that are shown to work.

The full report, Combating the Opioid Crisis: Smarter Spending to Enhance the Federal Response, can be found here.

Survey Methodology

Morning Consult surveyed a national sample of 2,210 adults. The survey was conducted between May 17-19, 2022. Results from the survey have a margin of error of +/- 2%.