Meeting Mr Nice: Howard Marks interview

At the age of 65 Howard Marks still appears to have a healthy disregard for rules. As he quietly rolls himself a cigarette in the plush surroundings of Edinburgh’s Caledonian Hotel I can’t help but think how apt Marks’ pseudonym (and the title of his best-selling book) Mr Nice, really is. It’s difficult to equate this gentle mannered, softly spoken Welshman sitting in front of me with the character I’ve seen on screen. Is this really the man who during the height of his career was responsible for a huge percentage of the world’s cannabis trade, who worked alongside on-the-run criminal and former IRA member Jim McCann, who even dabbled in spying for MI5 and who, in 1988, was eventually sentenced to serve 25 years for his crimes? Apparently so.

In 1996 Marks published his remarkable autobiography, Mr Nice. This month the film of the book reaches the big screen, directed by Bernard Rose and starring Rhys Ifans in the title role and David Thewlis as the vociferous and volatile McCann. In many ways Ifans was an obvious choice to play Marks – in fact the two had been friends long before the casting of the film. “Over the years we became friends and met each other at festivals and other hedonistic events,” recalls Marks, “so we got to know each other very well. He didn’t need to study me at all. Absolutely no need whatsoever.”

Many authors might feel precious about the representation of their life on screen; not Marks, who appears genuinely chuffed with the final result, even if it didn’t always match his memories. “I suppose if one looks at it and analyses it then no it wasn’t like that, it was a different place or I came out of the car a different side or wasn’t wearing anything like that, but it captures the essence, the emotions, more effectively then the book ever could.”

Mr Nice has had a delayed release, apparently due to the recurrent debate surrounding the legalisation of cannabis in the news, and Marks is conscious that the film will again bring up the issue of the criminalisation of the drug. His views on prohibition have remained firm though. “There’s no recreational drug so far discovered that wouldn’t be safer to society if it was legalised and controlled,” he argues. “To keep it within criminal circles is just insane. If you look at the argument of the harm drugs [do]… obviously some drugs can produce harm but we’re allowed to kill ourselves, suicide is legal… it’s alright to kill myself quickly just not slowly, it’s ridiculous.”

The film avoids making any overt political comment on the criminalisation of cannabis and the (what many believe to be) harsh sentencing that Marks received, which saw him serve 7 years of a 25 year sentence in a prison in Indiana in 1988. Instead the film focuses on the context for the decisions he made and the subsequent repercussions. Marks adds, “I think it shows at least there was no intended victim in what we did, obviously we were breaking the law, we were criminals, but it wasn’t stealing from anyone or hurting anyone, we were very careful. It was peace and love, hopelessly idealistic.”

Has he seen a change in attitudes to cannabis over the decades? “By and large it’s the same. It always has been a generational thing, people between 18 and 25 tend to be pro it. It is a different product [now], largely in the content of THC that is in skunk and doesn’t even exist in Afghan hash. The fact that it’s stronger shouldn’t make any difference at all, you just put less in the joint. I’ve never quite seen what that’s about. It’s like objecting that whisky is stronger than wine, you just have different glasses! I think the attitudes are by and large the same, no one can really provide a rationale for prohibition, they couldn’t then and they can’t now.” At the same time he acknowledges that the world of drugs today isn’t the same as the one he was involved in back in the 70s. “It’s a very different business these days; there’s a lot of violence, there’s better technology so it’s a very difficult business.” Before adding, “though I suppose it requires the same sort of character to be a drug dealer now as it did then!”

And what about the name, Mr Nice? “Well, he called it ‘Nice’ [pronounced ‘niece’], it was a guy I met who’d been convicted of murder, had done a 12 year sentence and was just happy to be free again, no intention of travelling or anything like that. So I bought his passport off him, applied for a birth certificate and went through all those motions. It was quite a good name to have because it usually sparks up conversation, I felt comfortable with it.”

In more recent years and following the success of his book, he’s become a well-loved figure through his book readings which have gradually morphed into something close to stand-up. “Book readings normally take place in a book shop in the middle of the afternoon and they’re terribly sterile and lacking in entertainment. Quite a few authors, Irvine Welsh, Nick Cave, Roddy Doyle started doing readings in pubs and clubs, so I started doing that and it suited me better. And of course you have to modify what you wrote. No author wrote a book thinking he’d have to read it out loud in a book shop! Then I started using multimedia and things like that, anything to make it more rock and roll, more hardcore and more entertaining really.”

That’s Howard Marks it seems, the quiet, unassuming former dope smuggler still intent on adding some rock and roll to the world.