Is US making progress on illegal drug problems? New poll shows mood reversal

Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald on Nov 6, 2025

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More Americans are feeling optimistic about progress addressing illegal drugs in the United States — a major reversal since 2023 and a change largely driven by Republicans, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll, conducted between Oct. 1 and 16 and published Wednesday, also showed a significant decline in Republican support for the legalization of marijuana.

The results come after months of President Donald Trump’s administration taking high-profile steps to curb the flow of illegal drugs. These efforts have included airstrikes on boats the administration claims were smuggling drugs, labeling drug cartels as terrorist organizations and using tariffs, or the threat of tariffs, to pressure some countries into doing more to stop drug trafficking.

Here’s a breakdown of the poll results, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Americans feel more optimistic about the progress being made to curb illegal drug problems

Overall, 45% of the poll’s 1,000 respondents said they feel the U.S. has made “much” or “some” progress in “coping with the problem of illegal drugs,” per the Gallup report. In 2023, only 24% of respondents felt the same, a record low.

This year’s results are the most optimistic Gallup has recorded since 2000, when 47% respondents said they felt “much” or “some” progress was being made to deal with illegal drugs.

Conversely, this year, the number of respondents who feel “some” or “much” ground is being lost on addressing drug issues dropped to a record low of 23%, the poll showed. The result is a significant change from 2023 when the majority — 52% — of respondents expressed pessimistic views.

From 2023 to 2025, Americans went from being “the most pessimistic they’ve been about the nation’s drug problem in Gallup polls” to “among the most optimistic,” according to the poll.

The reversal, however, is “largely” due to a change in Republicans’ attitudes, Gallup said. In 2023, only 12% of Republican respondents said they thought “much” or “some” progress was being made. This year, 74% said the same — a surge of 62 percentage points.

Republicans’ support for legal marijuana use drops to its lowest point in decade

The other significant finding had to do with marijuana legalization. Overall, support for legal marijuana use remained high at 64% , a slightly lower percentage than in recent years.

Among Republicans, support for legal marijuana use dropped from 53% in 2023 to 40% in 2025, poll results showed. It’s the lowest percentage Gallup has recorded in a decade and comes not long after the group’s support for legalization peaked at 55% in 2023.

The topic is “another policy area in which there has been a reversal of Republicans’ recent movement toward more progressive attitudes,” Gallup said.

Taken together, the poll shows that “Americans are more encouraged about the nation’s progress in dealing with the problem of illegal drugs, but this mainly reflects improved Republican perceptions under Trump,” Gallup concluded.

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