Howard Marks is a Wales-born author who studied physics at Balliol College, Oxford. He now lives in York and is a friend of the Super Furry Animals. He achieved notoriety as an international marijuana smuggler through high-profile court cases and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug Enforcement Agency. He spent seven years in America's infamous Terre Haute penitentiary. In his smuggling career he did not use violence and refused to deal with hard drugs.

Since his release, Marks has published a best-selling autobiography, Mr Nice (Secker and Warburg, 1996), which has been translated into many languages. He is a campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis and tours the world with a one-man show.

External links

Photo of Howard Marks