Speaker, writer and former drug smuggler Howard Marks has died at age 70.
Described in today’s Guardian obituary as ‘Britain’s most charming drug smuggler’, Marks first gained prominence after he published his memoir ‘Mr Nice’ about his colourful career.
The 70-year-old announced he had inoperable bowel cancer early last year.
Born in 1945 in Kenfig Hill, a small Welsh coal-mining village near Bridgend, Howard Marks went to Oxford University where he earned a degree in nuclear physics and post-graduate qualifications in philosophy.
Known by his former alias ‘Mr Nice’, he was arrested and tried for smuggling drugs (cannabis) and spent seven years in prison, being released in 1995.
After years living under as many 43 aliases, he was eventually caught by the American Drug Enforcement Agency in 1988.
Having eluded the authorities for years, and made many millions of pounds, he was eventually arrested in Spain in 1988 by the American Drug Enforcement Agency. He was sentenced to 25 years at one of America’s toughest prisons — Terre Haute, Indiana.
Having served seven years in Terre Haute Penitentiary, he was unexpectedly released when it was discovered that the DEA had falsified evidence against him.
In 2010 a film about his life was made, starring fellow Welshman Rhys Ifans.
He is survived by four children.
His friend Keith Allen said: “Howard should get an OBE for keeping Britain stoned in the 70s and 80s and a knighthood for what he’s done since he came out of prison.”
“He is one of the cleverest, nicest and most charming old rogues I have ever had the pleasure of spending time with.”
Upon his release, Marks published his memoir and gained prominence as a strong advocate for the legalisation of cannabis.
Reflecting on his career, he said: “Smuggling cannabis was a wonderful way of living — perpetual culture shock, absurd amounts of money, and the comforting knowledge of getting so many people stoned.”
He stood for election to the UK parliament in 1997 on the single issue of legalising cannabis and worked in the music industry as well as appeared in a number of films.
However, his career was made as a speaker and performer – delivering speeches and to people across the world on his life as well as his beliefs on legalising drugs.
In an interview with The Observer last year, Marks said that he had no regrets about his life and about how he had come to terms with having bowel cancer.
“I’ve come to terms with it in my own way – which for me was about learning how to cry,” Marks told the newspaper. “It’s impossible to regret any part of my life when I feel happy and I am happy now, so I don’t have any regrets and have not had any for a very long time.
Marks’ death comes just a week before one of his final projects, a limited edition vinyl EP of Dylan Thomas poems, Do Not Go Gentle, is released to mark Record Store Day on April 16.
