Ethnographic research into illicit drug use necessarily involves the researcher being aware of illegal activities. Information about illegal activities is obtained through the establishment of confidential relationships with research participants; however there are legal and ethical obligations on researchers to breach confidential relationships formed in the research environment. The recent suspension of a research project by an Institutional Ethics Committee serves to illustrate some of the processes that form the research process, shape the boundaries to legitimate knowledge and some of the consequences of knowing about illegal activities.