B.C. pot activist wins $25M lottery prize

Pot activist Robert Erb, 60, says he will use his lottery winnings to help support the legalization of marijuana in B.C. November 10, 2012. (CTV)

British Columbia’s newest multi-millionaire says he will be using his new found wealth to support, among other things, the legalization of marijuana.

Robert Erb, 60, has won $25 million in the lottery, splitting the $50-million jackpot with a group of people in Alberta.

According to Erb, the winning ticket almost didn’t happen. The Terrace man had bought the ticket on Oct. 30, when he was on his way to Calgary for his father’s funeral. He made the purchase at a gas station in Hazelton, but the clerk made a mistake and would have voided the ticket had Erb not stopped him.

“I never do void any mistakes,” he said. “I take the ticket just on the off chance, you never know.”

Erb said finding out he won $25 million is “definitely a surreal sort of feeling.” He says he will continue working as a seasonal construction worker, but will donate all his wages to charitable causes.

He said he will also use his money to fund something very dear to him, the fight for the legalization of marijuana. He said he has been supporting the cause since the 1970s. In 2004, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in Terrace on behalf of the Marijuana Party.

Pot activist Dana Larsen is currently petitioning the B.C. government to change marijuana laws, and Erb says he will use his lottery winnings to support Larsen’s cause.

With files from CTV British Columbia’s Shannon Paterson