Ben, a police officer, accidentally stumbles onto several joints of marijuana at his friend Jim's house. Assume that the possession of any quantity of marijuana is illegal in the municipality in which this event takes place. Using a utilitarian calculus, what would be the right thing for Ben to do in this circumstance?

A utilitarian calculator, first developed by Mill and revised by Bentham, measures the amount of pleasure or pain that will result from an action; an action is morally right if it produces more pleasure than pain. Bentham added the following dimensions to the calculator: 
Intensity: how intense is the pleasure or pain?
Duration: how long will the pleasure or pain last?
Certainty: how certain is the pain or pleasure to take place?
Propinquity or nearness: how close or far in the future is the pleasure or pain?
Fecundity: how likely is it that the pleasure will lead to other pleasurable things?
Purity: how likely is it that the pain will lead to other pain?
Extent: how many people are affected by the pleasure?
Using this calculator makes Ben's dilemma quite difficult. If he turns in Jim to the police and Jim has legal problems, it will result in pain for Jim and Ben, as well as for both of their wives. The pain for Jim will be intense, long, and certain, and it will occur soon, as Jim will potentially face jail time or other consequences. In addition, the extent of the pain will be great, as Jim and his wife will face painful consequences. Ben and his wife could also face painful consquences, as Jim and Sandy will likely not be their friends anymore. 
If Ben does not report Jim, Ben will likely experience intense, long, and possibly certain pleasure by enjoying Jim's friendship. Jim will also experience this type of pleasure. However, it is difficult to determine the nearness of the pleasure or how likely it is that Jim and Ben will experience pleasure in the future (as they just began their friendship). In addition, it will also be difficult to determine the extent of the pleasure, as the course of their future friendship is difficult to know. However, there is no doubt that Jim will experience greater pleasure if Ben doesn't report him. Therefore, the calculus in this scenario is complicated and difficult to calculate.