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, they did not have the slightest idea of what they were protesting.
The paid actors had signs featuring a QR code (see also attached image) leading to a petition organized by John Ramsay, who works for MIT45: which is a founding member of the American Kratom Association (AKA) and a part of the Global Kratom Coalition (GKC). Both AKA and GKC are Big Kratom lobbying groups that have been attacking 7-OH in the media and with legislators across the country.
Jeff Smith, national policy director of the Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust (HART), had the following statement:
“Buying protestors proves it: the war on 7-OH is a completely manufactured controversy. When you have to stage a protest, you don’t have a real movement. Donors to the American Kratom Association and Global Kratom Coalition should be mortified that this is the kind of action that their donations are being spent on.
“Kratom in general, not just 7-OH, is facing an existential threat in state legislatures. Consumers lost kratom access in two more states this year, mostly because of a botched kratom industry strategy attacking 7-OH instead of promoting the positive about their own products. The evidence is clear: when the industry tries to divide customers into kratom and 7-OH blocks, we all lose. This industry has to accept that we succeed or fail together. I’d rather succeed.
“Big Kratom seems to think they can save their members’ bottom line by burning the whole industry down, no matter how much their misguided strategy backfires. At HART, we fight for the rights of kratom and 7-OH users alike because we think people are more important than a silly industry turf war.
“HART is in Las Vegas this weekend at CHAMPS to call on the kratom industry to stop the infighting and join the push for evidence-based and reasonable regulations that protect access for everyone who relies on kratom and 7-OH, before it’s too late.”
