Jeff Mizanskey, 62, who was sentenced to life without parole, says he intends to spend the rest of his life advocating for marijuana legalisation

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A man sentenced to life in prison without parole on a marijuana-related charge was freed on Tuesday from a Missouri prison after being behind bars for two decades – a period in which the nation’s attitudes toward pot have steadily softened.

Ohio prepares to vote on marijuana legalization: which states will be next? Read more

Family, friends, supporters and reporters flocked to meet Jeff Mizanskey as he stepped out of the Jefferson City correctional center into a sunny morning, wearing a new pair of white tennis shoes and a shirt that read: “I’m Jeff & I’m free”.

“I spent a third of my life in prison,” said Mizanskey, now 62, who was greeted by his infant great-granddaughter. “It’s a shame.”

After a breakfast of steak and eggs with family, Mizanskey said, he planned to spend his post-prison life seeking a job and advocating for the legalization of marijuana. He criticized sentencing for some drug-related crimes as unfair and described his time behind bars as “hell”.

His release followed years of lobbying by relatives, lawmakers and others who argued that the sentence was too stiff and that marijuana should not be forbidden.

ABC 17 News (@ABC17News) First video of Jeff Mizanskey exiting prison for the first time in more than 21 years. #abc17news pic.twitter.com/ORBDcvfaFV - @SaraABC17

Mizanskey was sentenced in 1996 – the same year California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. Medical marijuana is now legal in 23 states, and recreational marijuana has been legalized in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and Washington DC.

Police said Mizanskey conspired to sell 6lb of marijuana to a dealer connected with Mexican drug cartels. At the time, the life-with-no-parole sentence was allowed under a Missouri law for repeat drug offenders. Mizanskey already had two drug convictions – one for possession and sale of marijuana in 1984 and another for possession in 1991.

He was the only Missouri inmate serving such a sentence for a non-violent marijuana-related offense when the Democratic governor, Jay Nixon, agreed in May to commute his sentence. The commutation allowed Mizanskey to argue for his freedom before a parole board, which granted his request in August.

The governor cited Mizanskey’s nonviolent record, noting that none of his offenses involved selling drugs to children. The law under which he was originally sentenced has since been changed.

Other states are re-evaluating punishments for drug-possession crimes, motivated in large part by the high cost of imprisoning low-level, nonviolent offenders.

In Connecticut, a new law will make possession of small amounts of hard drugs, including heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, a misdemeanor for a first-time offense, rather than allowing for the current maximum seven-year prison sentence. Nebraska and Alabama expect to save hundreds of millions of dollars by using new laws to cut down on the number of offenders locked up for possessing small amounts of drugs.

In Missouri, backers of two ballot initiatives to legalize pot have permission from the secretary of state to begin collecting signatures to put the issue before voters in 2016. Another petition proposes reducing sentences for nonviolent drug offenders who are serving time without opportunity for parole.

Mizanskey said he will not smoke marijuana now that he is free; he is on parole, after all.

But if it ever becomes legal at the state and federal levels, Mizanskey said, “definitely”.