St. Lawrence County residents say heroin and opiate abuse is the most significant community issue facing the area, according to a Jefferson Community College survey.

According to the data, 61 percent of respondents believe heroin, or other opiate abuse is major issue, followed by poverty at 53 percent.

The survey is an inventory of the attitudes and opinions of a representative sample of St. Lawrence County adult residents, a release form the college says.

Highlights of the 2016 St. Lawrence County survey include:

• St. Lawrence County residents continue to be positive in their assessment of the “Overall Quality of Life” in the county, with 59% rating this as “Excellent or Good”, and only 8% rating as “Poor”. These values are consistent with those from 2015 when values of 61% and 9% were obtained.

• For the second consecutive year, residents are most concerned with the “Availability of Good Jobs” in the area. Sixty-one percent rate this community indicator as “Poor”. When asked the largest issue facing the nation at this time the second most common response is “Economy/Jobs”.

• The residents of the County continue to think fondly of the education in the region. “Access to higher education” is the most positively perceived with 72% rating it as “Excellent or Good” while “Quality of K-12 education” is second at 67%. The “Quality of K-12 education” is the least negatively perceived (6% “Poor” rating) and “Access to higher education” is third least negative (7% “Poor”).

• St. Lawrence County residents continue to appreciate the local environment and the opportunities it provides. “Quality of the Environment” was second most positive (67% “Excellent of Good”) and “Public Outdoor Recreational Opportunities” was the fourth most positively rated community indicator (61% “Excellent or Good”).

• When asked to comment on the severity of community issues in the county, the most significant issues were identified as “Heroin, or Other Opiate, Abuse” (61% believe it to be a major issue) and “Poverty” (53% major issue). “Poverty” was the most common issue that has personally impacted respondents at 33% while “Heroin, or Other Opiate, Abuse” was fourth most common at 18%.

• The entire survey, including a summary of the results and the complete survey instrument, will be available on February 28, 2017 on the Center for Community Studies section of the Jefferson Community College website, http://www.sunyjefferson.edu/community-business/center-community-studies/annual-surveys-community.

Working under the supervision of the Center for Community Studies research staff, statistics students at the College completed 354 telephone interviews on both the landline and cellular phones of St. Lawrence County adult residents on the evenings of July 6-7, 2016, resulting with an approximate margin of error of ±5.9%.