TY - JOUR
T1 - Public Opinion about America’s Opioid Crisis
T2 - Severity, Sources, and Solutions in Context
AU - Sun, Diana
AU - Graham, Amanda
AU - Feldmeyer, Ben
AU - Cullen, Francis T.
AU - Kulig, Teresa C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The opioid crisis has claimed more than a half-million deaths over the past two decades and is one of the leading causes of injury deaths in the United States. The current study examines: 1) public opinion on the severity of the opioid crisis in terms of lives lost compared to other fatal social events, 2) opinions on who has been most affected by the opioid crisis, and the accuracy of these perceptions, 3) opinions on who is responsible or “to blame” for the crisis and who should fix it and 4) the individual and contextual characteristics that are related to these perceptions. Using data from an October 2019 Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) survey, the Center for Disease Control, and the U.S. Census, we find that the public severely underestimates the death toll of the opioid crisis compared to other fatal events. We also find that public perception of who and where have been most affected is fairly accurate, and such views are highly consistent across different locations, contexts, and sociodemographic characteristics of places and respondents. Additionally, we find that the public collectively views pharmaceutical companies and doctors as responsible for contributing to and fixing the opioid overdose crisis.
AB - The opioid crisis has claimed more than a half-million deaths over the past two decades and is one of the leading causes of injury deaths in the United States. The current study examines: 1) public opinion on the severity of the opioid crisis in terms of lives lost compared to other fatal social events, 2) opinions on who has been most affected by the opioid crisis, and the accuracy of these perceptions, 3) opinions on who is responsible or “to blame” for the crisis and who should fix it and 4) the individual and contextual characteristics that are related to these perceptions. Using data from an October 2019 Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) survey, the Center for Disease Control, and the U.S. Census, we find that the public severely underestimates the death toll of the opioid crisis compared to other fatal events. We also find that public perception of who and where have been most affected is fairly accurate, and such views are highly consistent across different locations, contexts, and sociodemographic characteristics of places and respondents. Additionally, we find that the public collectively views pharmaceutical companies and doctors as responsible for contributing to and fixing the opioid overdose crisis.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131839039&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01639625.2022.2071656
DO - 10.1080/01639625.2022.2071656
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85131839039
SN - 0163-9625
VL - 44
SP - 567
EP - 590
JO - Deviant Behavior
JF - Deviant Behavior
IS - 4
ER -