My father in law, Michael B. Edwards is a good man who made some bad decisions when he was young. He lost his father at 9 years old in a tragic accident, was forced to become the man of the house at such a young age, his family uprooted and moved from their home in Georgia to Florida where Michael found a way to numb and suppress his pain, and that was by using drugs.

Michael was a cocaine addict throughout his teenage years that carried into his twenties and he made a lot of mistakes. Mistakes that would carry way less weight if they were made in current day, 2019 instead of 1993.

Instead of being treated, Michael was handed practically a life sentence for a series of non-violent drug offenses. Instead of them having compassion and seeing someone obviously suffering from an addiction, the judge said to Michael "You need to be separated away from society for as long as possible." And they did just that.

(That same judge that said those words to Michael was then later arrested in a prostitution sting in 2018.)

My father in law has been sitting in a prison cell for twenty seven years. He has been clean for 22 of those years, has found God, and reads books often to stay current on technology and marketing.

The system failed Michael at 9 years old, at 18, and all throughout and we are begging you to help us push for clemency. Drug addicts are being treated worse than rapists, murderers and pedophiles over a health issue that should be treated as a health issue-not a crime.

Sign this petition to be a part of the movement to change the mental health narrative and help shift the conversation to where it should be on addiction and the drug war.

**Please keep in mind when you pay money to promote this petition, your money goes entirely to Change.org and not to Michael or his family. The purpose of this feature is to open up this petition to more eyes.**