Poll: 82 Percent Say US Losing War on Drugs

A new Rasmussen poll finds 82 percent of Americans believe the so-called War on Drugs is failing. This is similar to what Reason-Rupe found in September 2012 when 80 percent of Americans said the War on Drugs has been a failure. At that time, a third of Americans thought the federal government should spend less money fighting the drug war, and a quarter wanted to spend more. A plurality (40 percent) wanted to keep spending the same.

Americans under 35 are significantly more likely than Americans over 35 to say the US should spend less money fighting the drug war by a margin of 44 to 27 percent. Men are also more likely than women to favor cutting spending 39 to 25 percent.

In 2009 Rasmussen found that while 38 percent of likely voters thought the War on Drugs diverts police away from focusing on higher-priority crimes, nearly an equal number disagreed.

Full Reason-Rupe poll results can be found here.