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Drug labs know what's in illegal drugs. Users often don't.

A completed drug testing submission sheet along with drug testing strips available at Harm Reduction MI locations is seen in Traverse City. (Photo: Maxwell Howard / IPR News)
Maxwell Howard
/
IPR News
A completed drug testing submission sheet along with drug testing strips available at Harm Reduction MI locations is seen in Traverse City. (Photo: Maxwell Howard / IPR News)

When someone buys an illegal drug, there can be a difference between what they’re told they’re buying and what the drugs actually contain.

That's because drugs on the illegal market are often mixed with other substances that pose an even greater risk for users.

A lab in Traverse City works to sort it all out.

Reporter Maxwell Howard spoke with the people who run those labs and know exactly what’s in Michigan’s drug supply, and with a drug user who doesn’t.


Producer: Austin Rowlader
Music: Blue Dot Sessions

Maxwell Howard is a reporter for IPR News.
Ed Ronco is IPR's news director and the local host of "Morning Edition."