Concern about drug addiction has declined in U.S., even in areas where fatal overdoses have risen the most

The share of Americans who see drug addiction as a “major problem” in their community has declined in recent years, even as drug overdose deaths in the United States have risen sharply. Public concern about addiction is down even in the parts of the U.S. where drug overdose death rates have increased the most.

Nearly 92,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2020, up from around 70,000 in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During the same period, the rate of fatal overdoses rose from 21.7 to 28.3 per 100,000 people.

Despite these increases, the share of Americans who say drug addiction is a major problem in their local community declined by 7 percentage points in subsequent Pew Research Center surveys – from 42% in 2018 to 35% in 2021. And in a separate Center survey in early 2022, dealing with drug addiction ranked lowest out of 18 priorities for the president and Congress to address this year.