
Opinions on the seriousness of opioid use in U.S. communities in 2017, by ethnicity
This statistic displays the percentage of U.S. adults who thought the opioid epidemic was a serious problem within their community as of 2017, by ethnicity. According to the survey, 21 percent of white respondents thought the opioid epidemic was a very serious problem in their own community. Opioids are a substance that act on opioid receptors in the brain and are primarily used as a pain relieving drug. Opioids are highly addictive and can cause fatal overdose when used outside of medicinal practices.