Trump Pardons Silk Road Drug Market Operator Russ Ulbricht, Despite Calling For Execution Of Drug Sellers - Marijuana Moment

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

54% : Certain lawmakers had pushed Trump to make good on his pledge to free Ulbricht.
45% : "After 11 years in prison, it is hard to express how I feel at this moment," Ulbricht wrote at the time Trump made his pledge.
44% : " On Tuesday, Trump said in a social media post that he called Ulbricht's mother to share the news of his clemency action.
44% : Meanwhile, as one of his final acts before leaving office this week, former President Joe Biden granted another round of commutations for nearly 2,500 people incarcerated in federal prison over nonviolent drug convictions, including several who are serving time for offenses related to marijuana. While advocates applauded Biden's clemency actions over the past four years, there still lingering frustration that thousands have remained incarcerated in federal prison over marijuana-related convictions, including nonviolent sales cases.
42% : During a speech before the Libertarian National Convention, Trump had said "if you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served," earning boisterous applause.
38% : The exchange served as another example of the enigmatic drug policy worldview of Trump, who at one point more than 30 years ago said that the country needs to "legalize drugs" to win the war on drugs but later campaigned on an aggressive drug warrior platform.
29% : In 2023, Trump defended his position that people who sell illicit drugs should be quickly convicted and executed, touting countries like China and Singapore for enforcing the lethal penalty against drug offenders.
25% : Despite his repeated pledges to take extreme, punitive actions -- including capital punishment -- against people who sell drugs, Trump granted a full pardon to Ulbricht on Tuesday, effectuating his imminent release.
22% : Trump said that capital punishment "is the only way you're going to stop" addiction.

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