Our new paper is out looking at fentanyl injection and injection practices among people who inject drugs in Toronto. Since fentanyl is a very short-acting opioid, there is concern that increased frequency of injection may be changing injection practices. link.springer.com/article/10.100…

We thank the many people who shared their expertise, experiences and time with our project team. With Gillian Kolla, PhD, Ahmed Bayoumi, Sarah Greig, Molly Bannerman, Debbie Phillips, Jason Altenberg & Carol Strike

We surveyed 249 people who accessed harm reduction services in Toronto and looked at the relationship between the frequency of fentanyl injection and the sharing of injection equipment (filters, cookers and syringes).

We found that people who inject fentanyl daily and people who inject fentanyl less frequently reported the same levels of equipment sharing. But also that both groups who inject fentanyl had significantly higher levels of sharing than people who inject drugs other than fentanyl.

Our results suggest that people who inject fentanyl have higher rates of injection practices that may lead to viral transmission. But these results also countered our hypothesis & prior studies suggesting an association btwn fentanyl injection frequency & injection risk practices