At the American Bar Association's annual meeting, Eric Holder, head of the Department of Justice, announced the Obama administration's new policy aimed at curbing the handing out of unreasonably long prison sentences for low-level drug offenders. For example, a federal conviction for growing 100 marijuana plants for sale carries a mandatory minimum 5-year prison sentence. In order to avoid the mandatory sentences, Holder is urging prosecutors, in certain cases, to charge defendants without specifying the quantity of the drug involved so that judges are free to sentence outside the guidelines. How different regional offices and individual prosecutors will interpret and implement this policy is unclear. The federal government's policy shift falls in-line with many state and counties' shifting focus away from prosecuting drug crimes towards the treatment of drug addiction and related mental health conditions.