Dennis Howard Marks (born August 13 1945 in Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, Wales) is a former teacher, drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international hashish smuggler through high-profile court cases, supposed connections with groups such as MI6, the IRA, and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug Enforcement Administration.
He now lives in Leeds, UK.
Early life
Marks attended the Garw Grammar School in Pontycymer, followed by Balliol College, Oxford between 1964 and 1967 to study Natural Science, Physics (B.A., Oxon). After this he studied Physics (Grad. Inst P.) at the University of London (1967 to 1968). Then, back to Balliol, Oxford (1968 to 1969) to study History and Philosophy of Science (Dip. H.Ph. Sc.) and then on to the University of Sussex (1969 to 1970) to study Philosophy of Science.
Imprisonment
He spent seven years imprisoned in the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute. During his smuggling career, he allegedly did not use violence and refused to deal with hard drugs. Both he and his now ex-wife Judy Marks were extradited from Majorca, Spain to Florida. They have three children together; Amber, Francesca and Patrick. He has an older daughter, Myfanwy, from a 5 year relationship with Rosie Lewis.
Life after release
Since his release, Marks has published a best-selling autobiography, Mr Nice (Secker and Warburg, 1996), which has been translated into many languages. Along with 'Mr Nice', Howard has also compiled an anthology called The Howard Marks Book of Dope Stories (Vintage, 2001) and more recently a follow on from his autobiography; Señor Nice: Straight Life From Wales to South America. In 2003 one of Howard's fellow drug smugglers, Phil Sparrowhawk published his autobiography, written with Martin Knight, entitled Grass, (Mainstream 2003). Marks is a campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis and tours the world with a one-man show. He also appeared in the documentary Stoned in Suburbia aired on Sky4 in the UK.
Judy Marks has also written her autobiography of their life together entitled "Mr Nice and Mrs Marks" published by Ebury Press, 2006.
Marks stood for election to UK Parliament in 1997, on the single issue of the legalization of cannabis. He contested four seats at once: Norwich South (against future Home Secretary Charles Clarke), Norwich North, Neath and Southampton Test. The average vote was over 1%.
This led to the formation of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) by Alun Buffry in 1999.
Marks had a role in Ecstasy, based on the #1 bestselling book by Irvine Welsh, as a customs officer.
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday October 08, 2008 at 12:57:35 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
Dennis Howard Marks (born August 13 1945 in Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, Wales) is a former teacher, drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international hashish smuggler through high-profile court cases, supposed connections with groups such as MI6, the IRA, and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug Enforcement Administration.
He now lives in Leeds, UK.
Early life
Marks attended the Garw Grammar School in Pontycymer, followed by Balliol College, Oxford between 1964 and 1967 to study Natural Science, Physics (B.A., Oxon). After this he studied Physics (Grad. Inst P.) at the University of London (1967 to 1968). Then, back to Balliol, Oxford (1968 to 1969) to study History and Philosophy of Science (Dip. H.Ph. Sc.) and then on to the University of Sussex (1969 to 1970) to study Philosophy of Science.
Imprisonment
He spent seven years imprisoned in the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute. During his smuggling career, he allegedly did not use violence and refused to deal with hard drugs. Both he and his now ex-wife Judy Marks were extradited from Majorca, Spain to Florida. They have three children together; Amber, Francesca and Patrick. He has an older daughter, Myfanwy, from a 5 year relationship with Rosie Lewis.
Life after release
Since his release, Marks has published a best-selling autobiography, Mr Nice (Secker and Warburg, 1996), which has been translated into many languages. Along with 'Mr Nice', Howard has also compiled an anthology called The Howard Marks Book of Dope Stories (Vintage, 2001) and more recently a follow on from his autobiography; Señor Nice: Straight Life From Wales to South America. In 2003 one of Howard's fellow drug smugglers, Phil Sparrowhawk published his autobiography, written with Martin Knight, entitled Grass, (Mainstream 2003). Marks is a campaigner for the legalisation of cannabis and tours the world with a one-man show. He also appeared in the documentary Stoned in Suburbia aired on Sky4 in the UK.
Judy Marks has also written her autobiography of their life together entitled "Mr Nice and Mrs Marks" published by Ebury Press, 2006.
Marks stood for election to UK Parliament in 1997, on the single issue of the legalization of cannabis. He contested four seats at once: Norwich South (against future Home Secretary Charles Clarke), Norwich North, Neath and Southampton Test. The average vote was over 1%.
This led to the formation of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) by Alun Buffry in 1999.
Marks had a role in Ecstasy, based on the #1 bestselling book by Irvine Welsh, as a customs officer.
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday October 08, 2008 at 12:57:35 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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