> afaik Ulbricht didn't sell drugs himself

FWIW he kickstarted the marketplace by selling shrooms that he grew himself.

Hardly the worst he did. Note a certain Trumps position on the issue though:

"We're going to be asking everyone who sells drugs, gets caught selling drugs, to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts,"

https://reason.com/2023/10/24/trump-who-freed-drug-offenders...