IF asked to create a controversial character for a film, it's unlikely that even the bravest scriptwriter would dare to introduce someone like Howard Marks.

After all, a story about a bright lad from a small Welsh mining village who went on to Oxford University and developed a major drug smuggling empire would scarcely be credible.

Then if you claimed that the same Howard Marks was allegedly responsible for the supplying majority of marijuana smoked in the western world during the '70s and '80s as well as working with British Intelligence and dealing with the CIA, it would just be dismissed as fantasy.

But the fact is that Howard Marks is no fictional character. He has to be one of the most colourful -- and controversial -- personalities.

Later this month Howard brings his one-man show to Burnley Mechanics -- and a lively evening it promises to be.

"It's usually me on stage with a crowd of 18 to 25-year-old dope smokers in the audience," he says, the Welsh accent as strong as ever.

"Quite often things can get out of hand, but I'm not the most censorial person in the world."

Having served his time for drug smuggling -- at one point Marks used 43 aliases and 25 companies worldwide to disguise his activities -- he is now a prominent campaigner for the legalisation of drugs.

"My position has shifted as I've got older from breaking the law to trying to change the law," he says. "Of course I am cashing in on my criminal past. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

"Criminals are meant to be rehabilitated once they come out but there aren't many careers open to them."

Ever since he penned his best-selling autobiography Mr Nice in 1996 Marks has become the media-friendly face of the pro-drugs lobby.

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"If people want to buy drugs then they should be allowed to without being made criminals for it," he says.

"As long as they don't interfere with other people's lives then what's the problem?"

The more you listen to Howard Marks, the more liberal his views become. He acknowledges the dangers which drugs may pose but argues it is an individual's right to decide whether they should take them, not the right of the legal system to simply prohibit it.

If he believes so passionately in the anti-legislation campaign, why does he not get involved in the political system and try to change things from within?

"I am not a politician and I don't want to be," is the succinct answer.

"Besides I enjoy myself too much touring the country with my show and talking to people."

So is An Audience With Howard Marks likely to be a revival meeting with him preaching to a hall full of the converted or a heated forum for debate?

"I would like more people with views opposed to mine to come along and discuss the issues," he says.

"But usually when anti-drugs campaigners come along it can degenerate into a discussion as to whether drugs are harmful rather than whether they should be legal or illegal."

In his one-man show, which is touring the country, Marks offers anecdotes from his colourful past as well as engaging the audience in discussion.

"Sometimes it can seem a bit like hard work when you're constantly on the move, but I really enjoy doing the shows.

"I have a safety net of things I plan to talk about but I prefer more participation."

Once the current tour comes to an end, Howard Marks is heading back to his typewriter.

"I'm working on a book about South America -- a sort of continuation of Mr Nice," he says. "I have no regrets about anything I've done in my life."

An Audience with Howard Marks is at Burnley Mechanics on Wednesday, October 30.

Tickets, priced £11, are available from the box office on 01282 664400.