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UK: Sleaze holds no fear for self-styled Mr Nice
Michael Horsnell The Times
Thursday 01 May 1997 Sleaze holds no fear for self-styled Mr Nice Campaigner for legalised cannabis lights up Norwich OTHER politicians may blanch at the mention of the word, but sleaze is the one factor that the aspiring MP Howard Marks has nothing to worry about during the election campaign. Mr Marks, once the most wanted cannabis smuggler in the world, is standing as an independent in both the Norwich constituencies North and South on an anti-prohibition ticket. "My skeletons are very much out of the cupboard," the Oxford graduate said yesterday. "Sleaze is of no consequence to me. In fact the more allegations they make against me, the better." Mr Marks, suntanned from the spring sunshine of Majorca, where he lives with his wife, Judy, and three of his four children, wants to legalise cannabis. He says prohibition leaves its supply in the hands of profiteers and criminalises the young. He should know, having run a multimillion-pound empire and been sentenced to 25 years in America for racketeering. Mr Marks, who was released two years ago after serving less than seven years of his sentence, confesses to having made "a few million" from importing up to 50 tonnes of cannabis at a time from Pakistan, Thailand and the Far East into Europe and America. He smokes cannabis daily. "Cannabis makes you feel better," he said. He flew into Norwich to set up his campaign headquarters in the backstreet emporium, Paradox Delights, run by his agent Derek Williams. There, everything from hemp oil hair conditioner to high energy New Earth seed bars is sold to people who enjoy "herbal highs". Mr Marks has fond memories of Norwich. It was here that he bought a false passport in the name of Donald Nice, now deceased, and used it as one of his 43 aliases. He used Mr Nice as the title of his autobiography, published last year. More importantly, Norwich is the base of the Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International, which is backing him in its fifth anniversary year in his single-issue fight for a parliamentary seat. Ladbrokes is offering 10,000-1 against his election. But he has received support from some students at East Anglia University. "Essentially, my aim is to prevent criminalising youth and messing up their careers by putting them in prison," he said. "But it is also a question of civil liberty to be able to take cannabis. "It is my right to do what I want as long it doesn't harm anyone else. It is also for people suffering from various medical conditions for which doctors would like to prescribe cannabis but are being denied." He is convinced that cannabis will be legalised one day. "But I'm standing for Parliament because I'm in a bit of a rush."
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