Majority of Americans regard illegal drug problem as serious in U.S.

Sixty-five percent of Americans still believe that the problem of illegal drugs in the U.S. is "extremely" or "very serious," a latest Gallup has founded.

Though a solid majority of Americans still regard drug problem as serious in the U.S., the percentage is down significantly from 83 percent in 2000 and 73 percent in 2007, Gallup noted in an analysis.

The U.S. has long struggled with the sale and use of illegal drugs, such as drug-related crime and drug addiction, and Americans have frequently mentioned drugs as the most important problem facing the country in the past, Gallup said.

Drug problem ranked as the No. 1 problem facing the U.S. from May 1989 through April 1990. From 1970 through 2000, an average of 8 percent of Americans named drugs as the most important problem facing the country. Since 2007, the average has been 1 percent.

The fall in Americans' concern about drugs may also reflect less-prominent federal anti-drug efforts in recent years than in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Gallup said.

In recent years, some U.S. states have legalized the use of marijuana, while some others are making the same efforts to decriminalize marijuana use.

This may have shifted public opinion's about drug problem, as shown in Americans' rising support for legalizing marijuana, which has nearly doubled, from 31 percent in 2000 to 60 percent today.

In fact, less than a majority of 18-to29-year-olds, or 45 percent, now view drugs as a serious problem in the U.S., sharply down from 71 percent in 2000, Gallup said.

"This drop could reflect a generational change, as today's young adults were between the ages of 2 and 13 in 2000, and are therefore likely unfamiliar with strong government anti-drug efforts of the past," Gallup said. Given the differences by age in concern about the drug problem, the trend toward lesser concern about drugs could continue in the decades to come, it added. Enditem