The U.S is all set to remove the mandatory jail sentence for non-violent drugs users. The Attorney General Eric Holder announced the major policy reform on Monday. The reforms come in the backdrop of many people, who do not have any criminal back ground or any association with criminal gangs, ending up in a federal prison due to the mandatory jail sentences, reports Mercury News.

Mr Holder advocated an alternative to prisons such as community service programs to help rehabilitate people caught with Drugs. The prison sentencing will still hold good for members of a criminal gang or organization.

This will provide a little leeway to the prosecutors and judges to avoid giving the prison sentence on a case to case basis. The fundamental yardstick for the punishment still remains the quantity of drugs confiscated. The prosecutors, however, can exclude the details about the quantity of the drugs in their indictment there by not necessitating a mandatory jail sentence that can be a minimum of 5 to 10 years.

Mr Holder believes that a road to being a safer nation is not through justa policy of "prosecute or incarcerate" but the focus he believes should be on "prevention and reentry." This does not mean however that he is soft on crime but wants a "smart and efficient" way to fight crime.

"By reserving the most severe penalties for serious, high-level or violent drug traffickers, we can better promote public safety, deterrence and rehabilitation, while making our expenditures smarter and more productive," Mr. Holder said.

The current policy dated back to 1980s.The laws enacted required a mandatory 5 to 10 year sentences leaving the Judges with little choice but to pronounce the sentence. The economic ramifications of that policy are "unsustainable" Mr. Holder said with over $80 billion spent on it in the year 2010 alone.

Mr. Holder also pointed the skewed nature of sentencing which saw the African American males getting 20 percent longer sentences compared to the white males convicted for similar crimes.

The new policy by Mr. Holder will also bring cheer to the families of the elderly, who are currently serving mandatory jail sentences, allowing them to be released early.