Poll: Americans see drugs as a much bigger problem nationally than locally

The largest share of Americans in 25 years say the nation is making progress in the fight against illegal drugs.

A Gallup poll found 45% of Americans say there is progress in the war on drugs, up from a record-low 24% a couple of years ago.

The optimism is driven by a huge swing in Republican sentiment — from 12% in 2023 seeing progress to 74% now. Around a third of both Democrats and independents say they’ve seen progress, too.

The results come from Gallup’s annual crime poll that also found fewer Americans think overall crime is increasing.

Republicans are much more likely to view drugs as a big problem. Though down from 2023, more than half of Republicans still see drugs as an extremely serious problem. Just a third of independents and about one-fifth of Democrats share those concer