Poll: 41 percent of Maryland residents personally touched by opioid epidemic

A new poll found 41 percent of Maryland residents said the escalating opioid epidemic has directly affected them or someone they know over the past five years.

Another 42 percent who participated in the Gonzales Poll said they had not personally felt the impact of the deadly wave of heroin and other overdoses that has swept through urban and rural parts of Maryland. Seventeen percent gave no response. Among Baltimore city residents, 68 percent said they had been affected – far more than anywhere else in Maryland.

The poll, released Thursday, also confirmed previous surveys showing that Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is extremely popular among Maryland voters while GOP President-elect Donald Trump is not. Hogan's job approval rating stands at 74 percent. Thirty percent have a favorable view of Trump compared with 56 percent unfavorable.

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