Ross Ulbricht—who was serving a life sentence over a conviction for running a dark web illicit drug market before being pardoned by President Donald Trump—says more clemency is needed, arguing that more than half of the inmates he met while incarcerated “have no business being in those cages for decades.”

At the same time, Trump is facing criticism from Democratic lawmakers over his various pardons, and they’re notably scrutinizing Ulbricht’s drug-related clemency in particular despite the party’s history of generally advocating for drug policy reform.

During a speech at a FreedomFest event last week, Ulbricht thanked supporters and the president for helping facilitate his release, getting tearful as he recounted the anxiety he felt after his potential clemency was first rumored and feeling his fate depended on an uncertain election outcome.

Despite that gratitude, however, he said he feels more needs to be done.

“I know the men that are in there. I can safely say—I was in there for over 11 years, I met lots and lots of people—and I can safely say that the majority of, more than half easily, at least, have no business being in those cages for decades. Those cages that dot our country like some kind of disease,” he said.

“They’re decent men. They’re not a imminent threat to anybody. They can be safely released, just like I was. And those who can’t, they’re in there,” Ulbricht said. “There are some in there that are danger. If we are to be a truly free country, we must treat even them, the least among us, with dignity and respect. None of us are free until we are all free, because as long as a system like this exists, it is a threat to freedom everywhere.”

Trump’s pardon was something of a surprise, as he made repeated pledges on the campaign trail to take extreme, punitive actions—including capital punishment—against people who sell drugs. The president had previewed plans to take the action in May 2024, but it came a day later than his initial commitment to release Ulbricht “on day one” of his presidency.

“I keep getting the advice to move on with my life—to put the past behind me, stop thinking about prison and forget what happened. I can’t do that,” Ulbricht said in his speech. “I can’t forget where I’ve been—can’t forget what I’ve seen. I can’t forget the men that are still in there. Prisoners are the least among us. They are the bottom rung of society. How we treat them reveals who we are as a nation [and] as people.”

“I’m here to tell you that if you care about freedom and liberty, then you must care about what goes on inside those cages. It’s true. It just is. That’s where people are stripped of their freedom. That’s where liberty is lost. I’ve been through the belly of that beast and come out the other side. I’ve seen the oppression and dehumanization firsthand. I’ve lived it.”

Calls for prison, sentencing and drug reform are common among Democratic lawmakers. But in this case, there’s evidently a relative lack of sympathy in Ulbricht’s pardon case among some members.

In a memorandum from staff for the Democratic minority of the House Judiciary Committee that was distributed to lawmakers on Tuesday, the panel detailed complaints with the president’s multiple controversial clemency actions, which also includes many involved in the January 6 insurrection.

The focus of the memo is on the financial cost of pardoning people in terms of lost restitution and fines after an incarcerated person is given the presidential forgiveness. The committee’s staff “estimates that President Trump’s pardons could deprive the pardoned offenders’ victims (and other survivors) of approximately $1.3 billion in restitution and fines owed to them and American taxpayers,” it says.

But it also makes a pointed criticism of Ulbricht’s clemency.

“The pardoned criminal plutocrats include people like Ross Ulbricht who operated a major underground online black market which drug dealers used to deal hundreds of pounds of illicit drugs into both American and foreign communities,” it says, using sharp language that departs from how progressives tend to discuss drug criminalization issues.

“He was sentenced to life in prison before being pardoned by President Trump,” it says. “Despite the numerous people harmed by Mr. Ulbricht’s breathtaking crimes facilitating traffic in narcotics and opioids, President Trump on January 21 explicitly relieved him of the forfeiture and fines he was ordered to pay, which totaled an astonishing $184 million.”

Ulbricht had been sentenced to life in prison for operating the dark web market known as the Silk Road from 2011 to 2013.

The pardon also represents a political departure for Trump, who in 2023 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. Trump said that capital punishment “is the only way you’re going to stop” addiction.

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced during a Juneteenth address on Thursday that he is pardoning nearly 7,000 people convicted of cannabis crimes in the state, NBC Washington reports.

The move follows the governor’s pardoning last year of over 175,000 past cannabis convictions, a move that affected some 100,000 individuals and was one of the largest-ever gubernatorial cannabis pardoning actions.

Additionally, Moore announced that some $400 million would be dedicated to historically underserved Maryland neighborhoods to help raise home appraisal values and increase home ownership, the report said.

The governor also announced a $1.34 billion investment for historically Black universities and colleges, and designated $816 million in procurement contracts for Black-owned businesses, the Shore News Network reports.

The governor’s pardons forgive past convictions but do not expunge or shield them from public view. Last April, however, Gov. Moore signed a bill into law that requires the state to automatically shield from public view all criminal records associated with low-level cannabis convictions in the state.

Maryland’s adult-use cannabis market launched in 2023 under a proposal passed earlier that year by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Moore.

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New Jersey officials have completed the curriculum of a no-cost marijuana training academy that’s meant to support entrepreneurs interested in entering the cannabis industry.

About six months after the Department of State’s New Jersey Business Action Center (NJBAC) first started developing the program, it announced late last month that it has finalized the core curriculum for the Cannabis Training Academy (CTA) and the certificate of completion students can receive if they take the more than 60 courses available to them.

The technical assistance program is free of cost to participants and covers processes around applying for a business license, obtaining municipal approval, raising capital and navigating issues like zoning and day-to-day operations. It’s also supported by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC).

NJBAC said that, since its launch in October 2024, more than 1,300 people have enrolled—and officials have produced more than 20 hours of supplemental videos that students can view to learn the ins and outs of licensing and operating a marijuana business.

“To see this program fully completed in roughly six months after its launch is an incredible accomplishment,” NJBAC Executive Director Melanie Willoughby said in a press release.

“It’s also a testament to the State’s ongoing support and commitment to ensure that this vital resource is accessible to both prospective entrepreneurs and cannabis operators who are looking to level up their knowledge to acquire other additional licenses, or train their staff on the deeper nuances of business management and license operations,” she said. “There is nothing like this program anywhere else in the country.”

Courses are online, NJBAC says allows those enrolled to complete the academy at their own pace. Programming consists of pre-recorded webinars as well as live Q&A sessions with instructors. In-person workshops are also available.

“This is a historic moment for New Jersey, as we wrap up the largest, most comprehensive, cannabis technical assistance program in the country,” Tauhid Chappell, executive director of CTA, said. “The CTA is enhanced by industry experts, supported by the Cannabis Regulatory Commission, and accessible to all New Jersey residents ages 21+ who can access our program online 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year through their phones, tablets or computers.”

The academy is aimed at promoting equity in the state’s legal cannabis industry, with officials previously noting that the program “is specifically designed to help those who qualify as members of target Impact Zones, as defined in the [state’s adult-use marijuana law] and subsequent NJ-CRC rules.”

Sam Delgado, vice chairman of the NJ-CRC said the program “has already done a phenomenal job helping to prepare new entrepreneurs and workers to enter and thrive in New Jersey’s cannabis market.”

“Having knowledgeable operators and well-trained staff not only makes for efficient businesses, but also for safer consumers,” he said.

Penni Wild, deputy executive director at NJBAC, said the CTA “does more than just teach cannabis entrepreneurs what they need to know to complete a licensing application.”

“It is giving them the power to understand the licensing process, which according to survey responses from our CTA instructors would typically cost tens of thousands of dollars in outside consulting fees just to have the process explained,” she said. “They are learning it for themselves, step-by-step, to make informed decisions and move forward in their business.”

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Meanwhile in New Jersey, Senate President Nick Scutari (D) recently filed a bill that would re-criminalize purchasing marijuana from unlicensed sources—one of the latest attempts to crack down on the illicit market and steer adults toward licensed retailers.

In March, a former New Jersey Senate leader who’s now running for governor said “it is time” to give medical marijuana patients an option to grow their own cannabis plants for personal use. He also pledged to expand clemency for people impacted by marijuana criminalization if elected, and he expressed support for the establishment of cannabis consumption lounges.

The comments from Steve Sweeney, who was the longest-serving Senate president in the state’s history, on home grow depart from what current Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has said on multiple occasions, arguing that the state’s adult-use marijuana market needs to further mature before home grow is authorized.

Seemingly contradicting that claim, dozens of New Jersey small marijuana businesses and advocacy groups recently called on the legislature to allow adults to cultivate their own cannabis.

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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.