Source: Reuters
Excerpt:
LAS VEGAS, NV, July 25, 2025 (EZ Newswire) — This week, hired actors were spotted protesting 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) outside the CHAMPS Trade Show in Las Vegas in a desperate attempt by Big Kratom to manufacture support for their campaign to pit kratom and 7-OH customers against each other. This ridiculous incident reveals just how far industry insiders will go to manipulate public perception and protect their own profits, even if it means faking public outrage and dividing the very community they claim to serve.
A now-deleted Craigslist ad (see attached image) offered $100–$150 per day to “peaceful protesters” for a one-day gig on July 23, calling for 75–100 “reliable individuals” to stage a “high-visibility protest action.” The actors had matching t-shirts, but, according to people who engaged them, opens new tab, they did not have the slightest idea of what they were protesting.
The paid actors had signs, opens new tab featuring a QR code (see also attached image) leading to a petition, opens new tab organized by John Ramsay, who works for MIT45, opens new tab: which is a founding member, opens new tab of the American Kratom Association (AKA) and a part of the Global Kratom Coalition (GKC), opens new tab. Both AKA and GKC are Big Kratom lobbying groups that have been attacking 7-OH in the media and with legislators across the country.