A majority of people across partisan lines think the United States is losing ground in the battle over illegal drugs, according to a new survey published on Friday.

The Gallup survey found that 52% of people believe the country is not making progress in coping with the problem of illegal drugs, which is the highest recorded level of pessimism regarding the war on drugs since the polling group began asking the question in 1972.

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"The public has never been more pessimistic than they are today, at least in the years Gallup has collected data on the matter," Gallup analyst Jeffrey Jones said.

In 2019, only 30% of respondents to Gallup's crime survey said they believed the U.S. was losing ground, whereas 41% believed authorities were making progress. Today, only 24% believe officials are making sufficient progress.

Although 86% of Republicans believe the drug problem this year is either "extremely" or "very" serious, 63% of Democrats and 74% of independents believe similarly.

Gallup suggested the rapid rise in overdose deaths due to fentanyl is the main driver of the general pessimism.

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that there were nearly 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021, with over 70,000 of those being the result of synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl.

Overdose deaths from methamphetamine and cocaine have also sharply increased since 2019.

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The Gallup analysis of the polling results included that the rising negative sentiments regarding the effectiveness of drug policy may become a greater factor in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

Republican candidates during the third primary debate in Miami on Wednesday highlighted the need for greater control on the supply of fentanyl coming from foreign sources, particularly China.