I guess an important question to begin with should be what chain of actions to you expect from your report. Do you want to report them to the police? The university? Do you want to show pictures as evidence or bring them to an occasion where the asserted crime happens? What then? They write a report, nothing happens except scoreched earth?
Without diving into the details of peoples motivations for doing cocaine and their actual needs, doing cocaine is a problem common enough in most western countries that reporting a single individual consumer will likely have negligible consequences at large and potentially harmful consequences for yourself. Reporting individual cocaine consuming students doesn’t seem like a realistic strategy to combat drug cartels but comes with personal risks that don’t seem worth it, even if you believe in some positive consequences from said report (like this guy not using cocaine anymore?), which I’d be sceptical of in the first place.
Yeah, stopping one individual customer is indeed negligible towards cartels. However, I am still confused about whether I should get involved for the own person’s good or not. Cocaine is very addictive, but being in prison for a felony can be pretty bad too (which is why some people argue for lenient laws towards drug users).
Furthermore, you bring up a good point that I don’t know how to report it. I don’t even know the person’s name and I would feel awkward asking for said person’s name from a friend that will ask another friend for the name.
On one hand, since it is not my business, I am biased to remain uninvolved—but I’m not sure if that is the correct utilitarian response. If I can stop a coke addiction, I can effectively save a life (without donating like 5000 dollars to a charity).
Edit:
Also coke is pretty bad for the environment as well.
There also lies the issue of whether u can blame consumers of unethical companies. Companies like Nestle have done horrible terrible stuff, and some people eat factory-farmed meat. Yet, I don’t do anything to stop said consumers (though there is nothing I can do too).
Ruining the person’s life, their job prospects, their relationships (family, friends, partners),… while having little to no impact on the business of drug cartels. I’m not saying that’s what definitely would happen, but I think the odds are uncomfortably high to risk it.
I guess an important question to begin with should be what chain of actions to you expect from your report. Do you want to report them to the police? The university? Do you want to show pictures as evidence or bring them to an occasion where the asserted crime happens? What then? They write a report, nothing happens except scoreched earth?
Without diving into the details of peoples motivations for doing cocaine and their actual needs, doing cocaine is a problem common enough in most western countries that reporting a single individual consumer will likely have negligible consequences at large and potentially harmful consequences for yourself. Reporting individual cocaine consuming students doesn’t seem like a realistic strategy to combat drug cartels but comes with personal risks that don’t seem worth it, even if you believe in some positive consequences from said report (like this guy not using cocaine anymore?), which I’d be sceptical of in the first place.
Yeah, stopping one individual customer is indeed negligible towards cartels. However, I am still confused about whether I should get involved for the own person’s good or not. Cocaine is very addictive, but being in prison for a felony can be pretty bad too (which is why some people argue for lenient laws towards drug users).
Furthermore, you bring up a good point that I don’t know how to report it. I don’t even know the person’s name and I would feel awkward asking for said person’s name from a friend that will ask another friend for the name.
On one hand, since it is not my business, I am biased to remain uninvolved—but I’m not sure if that is the correct utilitarian response. If I can stop a coke addiction, I can effectively save a life (without donating like 5000 dollars to a charity).
Edit:
Also coke is pretty bad for the environment as well.
There also lies the issue of whether u can blame consumers of unethical companies. Companies like Nestle have done horrible terrible stuff, and some people eat factory-farmed meat. Yet, I don’t do anything to stop said consumers (though there is nothing I can do too).
It’s unclear whether reporting would stop a coke addiction at all
It’s unclear whether stopping a coke addiction saves a life, since I assume most coke users don’t die from overdose
You could easily do more harm than good
Elaborate on 3)
Ruining the person’s life, their job prospects, their relationships (family, friends, partners),… while having little to no impact on the business of drug cartels. I’m not saying that’s what definitely would happen, but I think the odds are uncomfortably high to risk it.