Pubdate: Mon, 12 Nov 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Ian Austin
Page: A3

MARIJUANA ADVOCATE WINS $25M

Man, 60, hits the jackpot after not playing his usual numbers

B.C. marijuana advocate vows to use part of his windfall to fund
legalization efforts It was three times lucky this week for B.C. pot
advocates.

First Washington state and Colorado voters decided the time had come
to legalize marijuana.

That surprising development spurred a flurry of news coverage and
momentum for SensibleBC.ca, a campaign organization dedicated to
putting marijuana decriminalization to a referendum in B.C.

And third time luckiest was Terrace pot advocate Bob Erb, who won a
cool $25 million in the Nov. 2 Lotto Max draw to end a phenomenal week
for marijuana enthusiasts.

Erb, a 60-year-old former candidate for the B.C. Marijuana Party, hit
a financial high point when he checked his Lotto Max ticket and
discovered it was a winner.

"I turned around and around and said to myself, 'It can't be $25,000 -
there are too many zeros,'" said the seasonal construction worker. "I
put it in again to see if something will go wrong and, holy, it said
$25 million!"

The appropriately named Erb - 'herb' is one of the countless nicknames
for marijuana - has no plans to quit his job.

"I won't be buying a home gym, so I'll work for the exercise," he
jokes.

And Erb plans to spread his new-found wealth around - Terrace soup
kitchens, food banks, shelters and other local organizations will all
be beneficiaries of his lottery winnings.

Erb can barely believe his long-awaited luck - not exactly an
overnight success, since he's been buying tickets unsuccessfully for
43 years.

"It absolutely is [true] - and friggin' unbelievable," Erb told The
Terrace Standard. "I'll be looking at community groups and that,
dealing with people on fixed income and the homeless, food banks, soup
kitchens."

Erb's good fortune came on an unfortunate trip, drivingto Calgary for
his father's funeral.

He plays the same tickets each week, except this week, when a cashier
in New Hazelton got it "wrong."

"So he said, 'OK, I'll just cancel that one,'" Erb told the
CBC.

"I said, 'No, no, it just might be the big one. I'll keep
that.'"

Erb says he will put his money where his mouth is, using some of his
winnings for "the legalization, decriminalization of marijuana."

Co-worker Jordan Smoley said the winnings couldn't come to a nicer
guy.

"I was speechless and all I could think about was how happy I was for
him," Smoley told the CBC.
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