CLEVELAND -- Community and church leaders applauded Mayor Frank Jackson's decision to lower charges for drug-paraphernalia cases from felonies to misdemeanors.

About two dozen supporters of the plan gathered Tuesday on the steps of City Hall to urge other politicians to find money for more drug treatment programs.

Although other Ohio cities have been charging the paraphernalia cases as misdemeanors for years, the Rev. Marvin McMickle of Antioch Baptist Church called the new policy "a bold initiative that will transform our county justice system."

Drug abusers now face felony possession charges if caught with trace amounts of drugs in a crack pipe or heroin syringe. The new policy gives offenders a chance to treat their addiction, Jackson said last week. Early next year, the city will adopt a progressive system. On the first offense, a user will be charged with having drug paraphernalia, a second-degree misdemeanor. A second offense will be charged as a first-degree misdemeanor. Defendants charged with either of these offenses could be eligible to have their cases diverted to Cleveland's Drug Court.

Community activists have said for years that similar drug paraphernalia cases from the suburbs are charged as misdemeanors, leading to inequity in how justice is delivered.

McMickle agreed and said he saw the injustice firsthand.

He has been speaking out against the felony charges since he served as a foreman for the Cuyahoga County grand jury in 2001. The county indicts too many felony cases that hinder people, stuck with the tag of convicted felon, from later getting jobs, McMickle said.

Jackson made a decision that his predecessors overlooked, McMickle said.

Jackson plans to ask the county drug-abuse board for additional money to beef up treatment programs.

The supporters stressed that locking people up for drug addiction leaves less money for addicts who seek treatment.

Stanley Miller, executive director of the NAACP in Cleveland, added: "You can't police your way out of this."