Howard Marks has passed away
'Mr Nice' was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year
Former drug smuggler Howard Marks, aka Mr Nice, has passed away.
The Welshman, aged 70, died yesterday having battled bowel cancer, an illness he announced he had last year.
On charges of drug smuggling ranging from 1970 to 1987, Marks, once one of the world's most wanted men, was imprisoned in the United States for seven years, later publishing his best-selling Mr Nice autobiography after being released in 1995. Other books authored by him include Howard Marks' Book of Dope Stories, Señor Nice: Straight Life from Wales to South America, Sympathy for the Devil and Mr Smiley: My Last Pill and Testament.
An advocate of cannabis legalisation, he entered politics in 1997 to stand in four parliamentary constituencies to push the issue. It was around the same time he started doing UK-wide talks, at festivals including Glastonbury, on his life as a criminal.
Welsh actor Rhys Ifans played him in 2010 film Mr Nice and Marks even made a cameo in Human Traffic discussing spliff politics. Watch the clip of that below.
Dave Turner is Mixmag's Digital News Editor, follow him on Twitter