As U.S. drug use behavior has shifted away from injecting and toward smoking, public health experts have been almost uniform in their reaction. The development, they’ve said, is almost entirely positive: Smoking drugs like fentanyl, instead of injecting, can help reduce infections, disease transmission, and potentially even overdose rates.
A new paper published this week, however, adds a significant wrinkle to the cost-benefit analysis. People who switch to smoking drugs, the new research shows, may be at risk for severe burns.
