Officials have informed that people caught with small amounts of marijuana for personal use in Philadelphia soon will face a fine, not a criminal record.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Monday that under the policy effective later in April, people arrested with up to 30 grams (slightly more than an ounce) of marijuana would be charged with a misdemeanor in an effort to clear the courts' crowded dockets.

District Attorney Seth Williams has said, "We have to be smart on crime. We can't declare a war on drugs by going after the kid who's smoking a joint on 55th Street. We have to go after the large traffickers."

The Inquirer further reported that the goal of the change, worked on by Williams and two members of the state Supreme Court, Chief Justice Ronald Castille and Justice Seamus McCaffery, is to clear about 3,000 small-time marijuana cases annually from the docket. The diverted cases represent about 5 percent of the criminal court's caseload.

They weren't going to change their procedures, Police, who have been briefed on the policy, said.

Lt. Frank Vanore said, noting that marijuana possession still was illegal, "We're not going stop locking people up. We're going to stop people for it. ... Our officers are trained to do that."

Vanore further said that what happens beyond that is up to prosecutors.

He said, "We can't control that. Until they legalize it, we're not going to stop."

The newspaper also said that still being researched is whether prosecutors can simply switch all the small marijuana arrests into summary charges of disorderly conduct. The prosecutor's office said that the shift might require a change in state law or in a city ordinance. (With Inputs from Agencies)