Aug 13 2008 1:06 pm,
Born in 1945 in Kenfig Hill, a small Welsh coal-mining village near Bridgend, Howard Marks rose to become “the most sophisticated drugs baron of all time” (Daily Mirror). With the help of friends and fellow students at Oxford University, Howard built a world-wide smuggling network that allegedly became responsible for the majority of marijuana smoked in the western world throughout the 1970’s and most of the 1980’s. Once an agent for MI6 (Her Majesty’s Secret Service) and the orchestrator of major cannabis deals direct with members of the American CIA, Howard had 43 aliases and over 25 companies world-wide as cover for his truly international smuggling empire. His motivation became the legalisation of cannabis / marijuana, and a determined will to beat the system (he would not trade in any other drug and gave away most of the profits).
Howard currently writes for the Observer, Time Out and the Times and is respected as an international expert on the pros and cons for the legalisation of cannabis. Howard has appeared on numerous TV shows discussing his life and views, from Richard & Judy to the 11 o’clock show to Tonight with Trevor McDonald to the Jonathan Dimbleby programme, and is extremely active within the UK debating forum circuit, including Oxford and Cambridge Universities to Government advisory panels.
“MR NICE”
After two biographies “High Times” by David Leigh, and “Hunting Marco Polo” by Paul Eddy & Sara Walden, Howard set about writing his autobiography - Mr Nice (named after his most famous alias - Donald Nice). First published in 1996, Mr Nice has now sold over 836,000 copies in the UK alone and still (seven years later) remains an international best seller. Mr Nice has been translated into German, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian and French.
