A majority of Individuals report having expertise with substance abuse of varied sorts, and 13 p.c have had a relative or shut buddy die from an opioid overdose. Though 53 p.c of the general public sees prescription drug dependancy as a illness, many regard such dependancy as a behavioral failing. Forty-four p.c say opioid dependancy signifies an absence of willpower or self-discipline; 32 p.c say it’s attributable to a personality defect or unhealthy parenting, and fewer than 1 in 5 Individuals are prepared to affiliate carefully with a buddy, colleague or neighbor who’s hooked on prescribed drugs. This means that stigma surrounding opioid dependancy is a matter.

The findings are amongst many in a survey exploring attitudes and consciousness of Individuals in regards to the opioid epidemic specifically and drug misuse basically, in addition to tackle the disaster.

“Within the nationwide effort to grapple with the large challenge of opioid dependancy, it is very important know the extent of consciousness and understanding of Individuals who discover themselves within the midst of an epidemic that’s claiming rising numbers of lives,” mentioned Caitlin Oppenheimer, senior vp of public well being at NORC. “This survey gives essential, and in some circumstances troubling, info.”

Further findings from the survey embody:

• Two-thirds of respondents say their group isn’t doing sufficient to make therapy packages accessible and reasonably priced or to search out improved strategies of treating dependancy.
• Sixty-four p.c want to see extra effort to crack down on drug sellers.
• Fifty-seven p.c of Individuals have expertise coping with substance misuse starting from taking a painkiller that wasn’t prescribed to overdosing.
• Twenty-four p.c say they’ve an addicted relative, shut buddy, or that they themselves are hooked on opioids.

“The quantity of people that acknowledge how critical the opioid epidemic is on this nation is rising,” mentioned Trevor Tompson, vp for public affairs analysis at NORC. “There’s clearly a unbroken problem to make sure that what’s realized in regards to the disaster is grounded actually.”

Fb is the dominant supply of knowledge on social media in regards to the opioid disaster. Of the 74 p.c of adults who use Fb, 41 p.c say they’ve seen messages about opioids or about loss of life from overdoses. Fewer customers of different platforms report seeing such info.