The Obama administration has done nothing to lift the federal ban on industrial hemp production, meaning farmers in the United States are not allowed to grow hemp for any purpose.

Yet, to help raise funds for his reelection, the Obama campaign has opened a store where people can buy products, and one of those products happens to be a scarf made of hemp.

One of the items offered is a beautiful hemp and organic cotton scarf made by fashion designer Monique Péan.

The scarf is listed as “made in the USA.” What the Obama store doesn’t tell you is that the scarf is made from imported hemp blend fabric made in China.

It is legal to import hemp from other countries, something that makes the ban on growing it in this country even more ludicrous. Legalizing industrial hemp would generate billions in revenue for American farmers every year, and would not affect the prohibition of the cannabis plant one bit. Hemp contains negligible amounts of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

And lifting the ban on hemp is something Obama could use to pound the GOP with if they don’t go along. He could easily portray them as actively hurting American farmers. It’s a win-win issue, and Obama’s campaign doesn’t seem to think there is anything wrong with selling a hemp product. Yet the administration is silent.

Is Obama, in reality, just a ineffective politician with powerful backers and a “rock star” image? Why does he seem to have so much trouble against an ailing and out-of-step Republican Party?

- Joe Klare