Druggie Trust

Pharmacists are once again among the top of the 'most trusted professional' list says a yearly Gallup poll.

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's annual survey on the honesty and ethical standards of professions finds improvement in the public's perceptions of six professions compared to the last time Gallup asked about them: pharmacists, military officers, judges, day care providers, newspaper reporters, and state officeholders. Perceptions of nurses' ethics dropped slightly this year, to levels found in 2000. Pharmacists and state officeholders are rated more highly now than at any time since Gallup started measuring the images of these professions over 20 years ago.(/snip)

The current poll finds that 72% of Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of pharmacists as "very high" or "high." When Gallup first measured the profession in 1981, 59% of Americans gave pharmacists this rating, and by the late 1980s, the percentage had increased to 66%. Throughout the 1990s, ratings of pharmacists averaged 65%, ranging from 60% to 69%. From 2000 through 2003, 67% of Americans, on average, rated pharmacists as highly honest and ethical. A few years after they were added to the list, pharmacists became the most highly rated profession, displacing clergy. However, nurses have generally topped the list since they were added in 1999.

There's tons of graphs for many professions, so go see how you're doing in the poll! I don't quite know what to make of the slight increases for state officeholders and newspaper reporters....Go figure. But I am proud my chosen profession has been able to maintain such a high level of public trust and approval.

(Hat tip: Dean's World)