A fully clothed Jeffrey Shaver resolves charge

‘I’ve got a thong in my backpack,’ warns Cambridge man with an eye on the weather forecast

KITCHENER — Even when he’s dressed from head to toe, Jeffrey Shaver attracts curious onlookers.

Bundled up in a winter jacket and wearing a tuque and leggings emblazoned with the marijuana symbol, the man known for his pot-smoking, nearly naked protests stands in the courthouse smoking area and lights up his bong.

It’s Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. From a speaker in his jacket pocket he’s blasting rapper Afroman’s “Because I Got High.”

A woman approaches. “Excuse me, do you possibly have any weed?” she asks the man with a loaded bong in his hand.

“You have to go to your doctor for that,” Shaver says. “Medical marijuana.”

“That’s awesome,” the woman replies.

Another woman tells Shaver she can guess why he’s in court.

Minutes later, reeking of pot and sporting his trademark thick beard, Shaver, 31, stands before a judge to learn his punishment — a $50 fine — for trespassing in October 2016 at Cambridge Memorial Hospital.

The Cambridge man says he went to the hospital while suffering a panic attack and was charged with trespassing after having “an issue with the vending machine.” An assault charge in an alleged scuffle with security is still outstanding.

Shaver was also charged with marijuana possession. The charge was dropped because he has a medical marijuana card. He smokes pot to treat anxiety, depression and back pain.

Police seized his bong and pot, sparking attention-getting protests in skimpy underwear or a thong.

Last September in front of the courthouse, Shaver was charged with public nudity for wearing a thong with his “buttocks exposed,” police said at the time.

Although the marijuana possession charge was dropped and police returned his bong and pot, the nudity charge remains on the books.

“I don’t agree with the definition of the charge: public nudity of the buttocks,” Shaver says. “I was wearing clothing similar to a bikini. Not really different at all.”

Shaver says he is under orders to be clothed from “neck to knee” on courthouse property but that won’t prevent underdressed protests against the nudity charge elsewhere.

“I’ve got a thong in my backpack,” he warns, pulling out a small piece of gold fabric. “It is going to be (warm) later in the week, so we’ll see what happens.”