According to the official reports, the U. S. House on Wednesday passed and sent to the president a bill bringing sentences in crack cocaine cases closer to those in powder cocaine prosecutions.

The House, by a voice vote, gave final congressional approval to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which the Senate passed in March. The measure, which the White House says provides for the first reduction in federal mandatory sentences in 40 years, will go to President Barack Obama's desk for his signature.

The New York Times has reported that current law, in effect since 1986, provides for a minimum federal sentence of five years in prison for possession of five grams of crack and 10 years for 10 grams. Similar sentences in powder cocaine cases require possession of amounts of powder cocaine 100 greater than in crack cases.

The bill passed on Wednesday raised the amount of crack cocaine necessary for the five-year minimum sentence to 28 grams and the amount for a 10-year sentence to 280 grams.

Following the House vote the new law will "dramatically reduce a 100-to-1 disparity between trafficking offenses for crack and powder cocaine," said White House Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske.

There was no scientific basis for the disparity, Kerlikowske said in a statement issued by the White House.

Kerlikowske said, "By promoting laws and policies that treat all Americans equally, and by working to amend or end those that do not, we can only increase public confidence in the criminal justice system and help create a safer and healthier nation for us all."

It has also been reported that Harsher sentences for crack cocaine generally resulted in longer prison terms for blacks, while powder cocaine prosecutions tended to involve whites more than blacks. (With Inputs from Agencies)