Poll: Opioid addiction touches one-third of NC residents

Thirty-one percent of the 771 registered voters Elon University Poll surveyed last week said opioid addiction has touched either them, a friend or a relative. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

The figures are even higher among millennials, where 43 percent say they've been affected, and suburban residents, at 38 percent, according to the poll.

A majority of those surveyed, 59 percent said abuse of prescription paid medications is a bigger problem, while 26 percent blamed heroin and other illegal street drugs for the addiction crisis.

Physicians and hospitals are the best equipped to deal with the crises, 55 percent of respondents said, while another 21 percent said the criminal justice system should handle it and 17 percent said each case is different.

Only 28 percent of those surveyed said their local communities has adequate resources to respond to the crisis, compared with 42 percent who said their communities were unprepared. Another 28 percent didn't know.

About 45 percent of respondents said opioid addiction hasn't gotten enough attention, while 11 percent said the issue has received too much coverage.