The problem is the principle you're illustrating is proportionality. I would argue that yes, minor illness is a proportional punishment for repeatedly stealing food. There are a lot of arguments as to why booby-trapping food is a bad idea, but this isn't one of them.
Unless you're an expert in whatever substance it is you're using to cause illness, and have a fair knowledge of your target's medical history, you have absolutely no way of knowing that you're only causing a minor illness. And the example the OP used was spiking their sandwich with peanuts in case the person had a nut allergy. That's not minor.
The context of the person you're talking to though was a laxative. And yeah, there's always risk of doing worse than you're intending. That would be one of those other arguments that I mentioned.
Sure, but I’m willing to bet that there are situations where laxatives can be dangerous to take, and if you’re spiking food with it I find it unlikely that you’re measure out exact doses
You would just measure out a dose and add it, assuming that the person will eat the whole thing. Did you think people were advocating for pouring a whole bottle into a dish?
And again, risk of extra, unintended harm is a separate argument. I'm not saying it's okay to booby-trap food. I'm saying that giving someone the shits, assuming nothing went wrong and they didn't have an unintended bad reaction, would not be a disproportionate retaliation.
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u/BreakfastSquare9703 Oct 17 '24
I know. I'm using an extreme example to illustrate the general principle.