Number of Americans who say drug abuse has caused family problems climbs: Gallup

The number of Americans who say that drug abuse has caused problems in their families has climbed to 30 percent, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday.

That’s significantly higher than the last time such a survey was conducted by Gallup in 2005, when 22 percent of respondents cited drug abuse as a cause of trouble in their families.

Gallup first started posing the question in 1995. That year, 19 percent of Americans said drug abuse was responsible for family problems. 

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In 1999 — around the time that prescription opioid overdoses began to increase — the number increased to 22 percent and remained at that level through 2005. 

The survey results released Thursday show how the opioid epidemic in the U.S. has affected families nationwide. There were, however, differences in responses by region of the country.

In the West, for example, 38 percent of respondents said they had experienced drug abuse-related family troubles. In the East, that number was 28 percent, and in the Midwest and South, it dropped to 27 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

The survey also found that women were more likely than men to report family troubles related to drug abuse. Thirty-three percent of women said that they have experienced such issues, compared to 26 percent of men.

The poll surveyed 1,033 adults nationwide from July 1-11. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.