Roger Ver talks Ross Ulbricht and war on drugs

Roger Ver has popped up on YouTube to read a letter from Ross Ulbricht, who is best known for creating and running the Silk Road website from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.

Ver is a major proponent of Bitcoin Cash, which he claims is more faithful to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision than Bitcoin. Whilst Ulbricht is currently serving a double life sentence plus 40 years in the US without the possibility of parole. 

Ver makes a habit of sharing the letters sent to him by Ulbricht. In the latest one, he thanks Ver for organising a benefit concert in Los Angeles. “Can you imagine if the President released me beforehand? Then I could crash the party and tell everyone prison stories and all my thoughts on criminal justice reform. There is a lot to discuss!”

“Prison doesn’t get easier, but I am keeping my chin up. With friends like you out there, I feel it is just a matter of time before this nightmare is behind me and I can start living again. Thank you for giving me hope,” Ulbricht adds.

Bad guys

Also in the YouTube video, Ver gives his thoughts on the war against drugs. “If you’re a police officer watching this video, look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, when you put someone in prison or arrest somebody for having a plant that makes them feel happy or buying and selling a white powder that makes people feel happy, are you the good guy for doing that?” he says.

“I would argue very strongly, no, you’re the bad guy for doing that. Just like those who were arresting people for drinking alcohol when alcohol was illegal in the USA. They were the bad people for doing such a thing.”

“Just because some people get together and write some words down on paper and call it a law, that doesn’t alter morality one bit. And if people have the right to drink alcohol, they have the right to smoke marijuana – they have the right to smoke crack,” he continues. “Because their lives and their bodies belong to them and their lives and their bodies don’t belong to the politicians or the police officers or any of these other people.”

A classic libertarian take on the matter, then. So, is Ver on the money, woefully naive or somewhere in between? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.