6 ms·

Absolute no brainer, he should be celebrated. Countless lives were saved via the harm reduction effect of a peer reviewed, reputation based platform. Of course

Absolute no brainer, he should be celebrated. Countless lives were saved via the harm reduction effect of a peer reviewed, reputation based platform. Of course if we had less draconian drug policy, it wouldn't be necessary but here we are.

maplant 2y ago
There is absolutely no way harm reduction was the reason Trump pardoned him.
- l0ng1nu5 2y ago
  It's absolutely one of the reasons why it was politically beneficial for him to enact the pardon.
Devasta 2y ago
He tried to hire multiple hitmen.
bdndndndbve 2y ago
Does trump also support needle exchanges and safe consumption sites?
- vkou 2y ago
  As well as online drug marketplaces? Or would running one without legal trouble require a campaign-contribution booster pack? What a beautiful political anschluss between people who just want to ban contraceptives and abortifacients, and people who just want to shoot up heroin. Not sure how you square that circle[1], but it's 2025, and here we are. It's very telling about libertarian priorities when a cryptobro running an online drug marketplace who tried to hire a hitman gets amnesty, while hundreds of thousands of people who have been convicted of drug possession[1] do not. Likewise, somehow reproductive rights are just not a libertarian issue, either. It's not a party of freedom, it's a party of freedom for wealthy men. [1] Biden gave a blanket pardon for people convicted of marijuana posession, but that's far less important for libertarians than Ulbricht.
  - hellojesus 2y ago
    I think most libertarians are against the war on drugs and would happily pardon or commute the sentences of non violent drug offenders, but the DPR probably takes priority for them because of the free trade issue compounded with the popularization of a non state-backed currency. He has both drugs + crypto vs just drugs. *Ignoring the accusations of hit ordering, which I would imagine all librarians cannot excuse.
    - vkou 2y ago
      If they are actually trying to maximize any kind of public welfare utility function, surely commutations and pardons and decriminalization and harm reduction for hundreds of thousands and millions of people, and body autonomy for hundreds of millions more should mean a wee bit more than this entirely transactional act.
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    > a cryptobro running an online drug marketplace who tried to hire a hitman gets amnesty Would you call this amnesty? He was already in jail for a decade, I thought.
    - vkou 2y ago
      I misspoke. The correct term is clemency.
      - robertlagrant 2y ago
        In that case, yes, guilty people get clemency. Innocent people don't.
woodruffw 2y ago
> Countless lives were saved via the harm reduction effect of a peer reviewed, reputation based platform. The basic immorality/pointlessness of the war on drugs aside, I don't know how you can assert this: it's not like there's a chain of provenance, and there's no particular guarantee that whatever grade of pure drugs was sold on Silk Road is the same purity that ended up in peoples' bodies. My understanding of the Silk Road case is that, at its peak, it was servicing a significant portion of the international drug market. The dimensions of that market include adulteration; Silk Road almost certainly didn't change that.
- Devasta 2y ago
  No no no, he is right. Its safe because if you receive a bad batch of drugs you can leave a negative review on the page of the drug cartel that has your name and address, no chance of that having any repercussions for you at all.
  - l0ng1nu5 2y ago
    I haven't seen anything to suggest that anyone was harmed for leaving a bad review.
    - Devasta 2y ago
      Do you know many people who'd be willing to risk their life to give the Sinaloa cartel a bad yelp review?
      - tayo42 2y ago
        Sinaola cartel sells lsd, dmt and mushrooms in personal quantities?
        ziddoap 2y ago
        As far as I remember, those weren't the only drugs sold there, nor was there any rule enforced regarding "personal quantities". Not that it matters, as it was an illustrative example.
potato3732842 2y ago
Yup. Drugs and the accompanying business disputes (there's a reason street dealers are armed or have armed people around) that would be normal in any other industry are sooo many people's (who would other wise not be violent criminals) entry point to violence. Letting parties remain at arms length yet transact successfully is such a huge step forward compared the prior status quo. Anything that gets buyers and sellers (either at the retail or distribution level) in illegal industries farther from each other is a win as far as I care.
fangry2 2y ago
[dead]

maplant 2y ago

There is absolutely no way harm reduction was the reason Trump pardoned him.

l0ng1nu5 2y ago
It's absolutely one of the reasons why it was politically beneficial for him to enact the pardon.

Devasta 2y ago

He tried to hire multiple hitmen.

bdndndndbve 2y ago

Does trump also support needle exchanges and safe consumption sites?

vkou 2y ago
As well as online drug marketplaces? Or would running one without legal trouble require a campaign-contribution booster pack? What a beautiful political anschluss between people who just want to ban contraceptives and abortifacients, and people who just want to shoot up heroin. Not sure how you square that circle[1], but it's 2025, and here we are. It's very telling about libertarian priorities when a cryptobro running an online drug marketplace who tried to hire a hitman gets amnesty, while hundreds of thousands of people who have been convicted of drug possession[1] do not. Likewise, somehow reproductive rights are just not a libertarian issue, either. It's not a party of freedom, it's a party of freedom for wealthy men. [1] Biden gave a blanket pardon for people convicted of marijuana posession, but that's far less important for libertarians than Ulbricht.
- hellojesus 2y ago
  I think most libertarians are against the war on drugs and would happily pardon or commute the sentences of non violent drug offenders, but the DPR probably takes priority for them because of the free trade issue compounded with the popularization of a non state-backed currency. He has both drugs + crypto vs just drugs. *Ignoring the accusations of hit ordering, which I would imagine all librarians cannot excuse.
  - vkou 2y ago
    If they are actually trying to maximize any kind of public welfare utility function, surely commutations and pardons and decriminalization and harm reduction for hundreds of thousands and millions of people, and body autonomy for hundreds of millions more should mean a wee bit more than this entirely transactional act.
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  > a cryptobro running an online drug marketplace who tried to hire a hitman gets amnesty Would you call this amnesty? He was already in jail for a decade, I thought.
  - vkou 2y ago
    I misspoke. The correct term is clemency.
    - robertlagrant 2y ago
      In that case, yes, guilty people get clemency. Innocent people don't.

woodruffw 2y ago

> Countless lives were saved via the harm reduction effect of a peer reviewed, reputation based platform. The basic immorality/pointlessness of the war on drugs aside, I don't know how you can assert this: it's not like there's a chain of provenance, and there's no particular guarantee that whatever grade of pure drugs was sold on Silk Road is the same purity that ended up in peoples' bodies. My understanding of the Silk Road case is that, at its peak, it was servicing a significant portion of the international drug market. The dimensions of that market include adulteration; Silk Road almost certainly didn't change that.

Devasta 2y ago
No no no, he is right. Its safe because if you receive a bad batch of drugs you can leave a negative review on the page of the drug cartel that has your name and address, no chance of that having any repercussions for you at all.
- l0ng1nu5 2y ago
  I haven't seen anything to suggest that anyone was harmed for leaving a bad review.
  - Devasta 2y ago
    Do you know many people who'd be willing to risk their life to give the Sinaloa cartel a bad yelp review?
    - tayo42 2y ago
      Sinaola cartel sells lsd, dmt and mushrooms in personal quantities?
      - ziddoap 2y ago
        As far as I remember, those weren't the only drugs sold there, nor was there any rule enforced regarding "personal quantities". Not that it matters, as it was an illustrative example.

potato3732842 2y ago

Yup. Drugs and the accompanying business disputes (there's a reason street dealers are armed or have armed people around) that would be normal in any other industry are sooo many people's (who would other wise not be violent criminals) entry point to violence. Letting parties remain at arms length yet transact successfully is such a huge step forward compared the prior status quo. Anything that gets buyers and sellers (either at the retail or distribution level) in illegal industries farther from each other is a win as far as I care.

fangry2 2y ago

[dead]