Nearly all Americans are concerned about drugs being smuggled into the U.S., but opinions are divided about U.S. military attacks on international drug smugglers. Americans are more than twice as likely to view killing survivors of such attacks as unjustified as they are to believe doing so is justified. Far more Americans have unfavorable than favorable views of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
What you need to know about Americans' views on drugs smuggling and U.S. military attacks, as of the December 5 - 8, 2025 Economist / YouGov Poll:
- The vast majority of Americans view the smuggling of drugs into the U.S. to be a problem: 69% view it as a major problem and 28% say it is a minor problem. Only 2% say it is not a problem
- Opinions about drug legalization depend on the drug. Americans are twice as likely to say that the use of marijuana should be legal as illegal (60% vs. 27%). This is not the case for cocaine: The vast majority of Americans (80%) say it should be illegal. Only 11% think using cocaine should be legal
- Americans have mixed views on the length of sentences for convicted drug dealers: 24% think they are too long, 27% say they are about right, and 23% say they are too short
- Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say drug-dealing sentences are too short. Younger adults are also more likely than older adults to say this
- Americans are more likely to strongly or somewhat approve than to disapprove of the U.S. military attacking boats containing suspected drug smugglers in international waters (48% vs. 41%)
- Republicans approve of the attacks by 86% to 7%. Democrats disapprove by 72% to 19%
- 59% of Americans think it would not be justified for the U.S. military to kill the survivors of an attack on a boat containing suspected drug smugglers; 22% think it would be justified
- Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to think that killing survivors of such an attack would not be justified (86% vs. 31%). Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to think it would be justified (46% vs. 4%)
- Americans are more likely to have an unfavorable than a favorable opinion of Hegseth (42% vs. 26%)
- The margin by which Democrats view Hegseth unfavorably (74% vs. 4%) is wider than the margin by which Republicans favor him (58% vs. 10%)
- More Americans disapprove than approve of how Trump is handling the military (50% vs. 41%)
Learn more about this poll here.
Image: Getty (Caylo Seals / Stringer)
