A new study has found that people who smoke opioids are four times more likely to suffer severe burns compared to those who inject the drugs. The research highlights an unexpected complication in harm reduction efforts, which typically promote smoking over injection as a safer alternative.
Harm reduction programs have long encouraged smoking drugs instead of injecting them to reduce risks like HIV transmission and overdose. However, this study reveals that the switch to smoking creates a different set of serious health risks that weren't fully understood before.