The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

7 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,D ecem ber 20,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca1362VICTORIA ST N. KITCHENER | MON-FRI 9AM-9PM SAT 9AM-6PM SUN 10AM-5PM NOTAX! AREARUGS! ON ALL 70%OFF!upto CARPET RUNNERS! $799STARTING7 TINGARST 7FROM PER LINEARFOOT NEW RUGS ARRIVING DAILY! 4'x6' 5'x8' 8'x11' $4999 $6999 $15999 APPROX APPROX APPROX FROM FROM FROM KITCHENER - Jeffrey Shaver, the Cambridge man who made international headlines for his nearly na- ked protests demanding po- lice return his bong and pot, is back in the limelight. Shaver, 32, says he plans to sue Waterloo Regional Po- lice, several police officers and the attorneys general of Ontario and Canada for a to- tal of $3 million, alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution. The suit, filed in October at the Kitchener court- house, has not been served on the parties, Shaver said in an interview on Thurs- day. He expects that will happen within a few weeks. "I tried to negotiate in good faith with them to get this issue dealt with," Shav- er said. "I haven't got any ac- knowledgement other than a basic sorry." On Oct. 20, 2016, Shaver was arrested by regional po- lice at Cambridge Memorial Hospital and charged with possession of marijuana, possession of a weapon, as- sault and causing a distur- bance. Shaver had a document showing he was allowed to smoke medical marijuana but was still charged with pot possession. In his law- suit he says the Crown "re- fused to drop the (marijua- na) possession charges until September of 2017." At the hospital, police seized Shaver's bong and pot, sparking several atten- tion-getting protests in which he wore a skimpy un- derwear or a thong while smoking a bong. His bong and pot were later returned. On Oct. 22, 2016, Shaver legally smoked medical marijuana in front of the Cambridge police station and was charged with pot possession and a breach. "I was held for 18 hours in jail ... when I had the proper documentation," Shaver said on Thursday. Those charges were dropped two months later, Shaver said. The arrests "affected my health and mental health, also limiting my ability to work," Shaver says in the lawsuit. Shaver last year lodged an official complaint, claim- ing police were wrong to charge him twice with pot possession and alleging there was no legal justifica- tion for being handcuffed, strip-searched and detained on Oct. 22. He alleged the ac- tions amounted to excessive force. After an investigation, the professional standards branch of Waterloo Region- al Police earlier this year ruled Shaver was legally al- lowed to have marijuana and concluded officers un- lawfully arrested, searched and detained him on Oct. 22. "Because there was no lawful authority to arrest the complainant, the use of force is considered unlawful and/or unnecessary by defi- nition," the professional standards branch said in a report. On both Oct. 20 and 22, of- ficers wrongly believed Shaver needed Health Cana- da documents to prove he was legally allowed to smoke pot, the report said. Officers didn't know that in 2014, Health Canada docu- ments were replaced by doc- uments from licensed pro- ducers, which Shaver had. The officers said they re- ceived no formal training on medical pot issues, the re- port said. "I'm still facing problems with other police forces re- fusing to accept proper doc- umentation, such as the OPP," Shaver said, adding he may also sue the OPP. "This (lawsuit) is really the only way you can effect the change." Because the lawsuit hasn't been served, Water- loo Regional Police and the attorneys general of Onta- rio and Canada have not seen it and had no comment on Thursday. Starting on Monday, Shaver will stand trial on three charges from the Cambridge hospital arrest: possession of a weapon (dog spray), assault (for alleged- ly resisting arrest) and caus- ing a disturbance. Shaver previously said he was at the hospital after having a panic attack. He said he "had an issue with the vending machine" and wound up getting searched and charged. In August 2017, Shaver's nearly naked protests made headlines around the world. Coverage got top spot on vi- ce.com under the headline, "This Speedo-Wearing Dude Wants His Bong and Weed Back." In September 2017, Shav- er was charged with public nudity for wearing a thong with his "buttocks exposed" in front of the Kitchener courthouse, police said at the time. A pretrial on the charge is set for January, Shaver said. Shaver unsuccessfully ran for regional council in the November election. MAN FAMOUS FOR BONG PROTESTS PLANS LAWSUIT, ALLEGING MALICIOUS PROSECUTION, FALSE ARREST GORDON PAUL Jeffrey Shaver, standing outside the Waterloo Regional Police detachment in Cambridge, says he plans to sue police and the attorneys general of Ontario and Canada, alleging malicious prosecution and false arrest. Mathew McCarthy / Waterloo Region Record LOCAL