The Supreme Court will have to roll up its sleeves and decide whether proponents of medical marijuana have legitimate claims or are just blowing smoke.

On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Clinton administration’s attempt to prohibit California’s Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative from providing marijuana to seriously ill patients. The distribution of marijuana is a crime by federal law, and the case will determine the legality of providing the drug out of “medical necessity.”

Medical marijuana use is a burning issue that demands the attention of federal courts. A 1996 California law legalized the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, and in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Colorado similar laws are in place or have been approved by voters. More than two dozen organizations in those states have been distributing the drug for medical use.

This use, though, is in contradiction with federal law, which considers the drug an illegal substance. It is time for the federal court to take a stance and determine the power and jurisdiction of the laws in these states.

Doctors have an obligation to provide their patients with the best possible relief available. Seriously ill patients in pain have the right to the medicine that best fits their individual needs, and the medical community has a responsibility to help the patients in any way it can. Marijuana is sometimes the best, or only, possible way to treat symptoms, and doctors should be allowed to provide it.

Proponents claim marijuana eases pain, helps nausea, promotes weight gain and steadies spastic muscles. It has been distributed to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, HIV patients and those who are terminally ill or in chronic pain.

Doctors can be trusted to decide whether marijuana use is warranted, just as they are trusted with the distribution of other drugs. They have worked hard to earn that trust, and should judge patient cases on an individual basis to determine if marijuana is the best drug. It is possible that doctors will abuse their right to distribute what is a widely recreational drug, but that risk already exists with other prescription drugs.

Many other drugs used for medicinal purposes, such as Ritalin, Vicodin and even cough syrup, also are abused for recreational use. The medical benefits of marijuana should not be ignored because of the stigma that surrounds it.

While opponents claim the legalization of marijuana for medical use will make the drug more widespread, it would not likely increase the use of the drug among the healthy population. Those who light up already are able to obtain the drug illegally.

The Clinton administration should not have tried to deter the California group from distributing marijuana. While the administration may believe the buzz about the medical benefits of marijuana is just that, only doctors and scientists have the medical knowledge necessary to make that determination.

The Supreme Court should listen to this medical community when making its decision, and when the smoke clears, hopefully the court will have put the control of the medicinal use of this drug into doctors’ hands.