One of last times Dr. David Allen was seen in Sacramento, he had a packed waiting room of patients. They were paying $150 each to see the former Mississippi heart surgeon for medical marijuana recommendations.
To anyone listening, Allen extolled the virtues of a "miracle drug" he said he started using at 17. He also told a reporter he was currently treating himself with pot for decades of accumulated stress as an cardiothoracic surgeon - and for more recent anxiety over his million dollar Mississippi ranch getting seized over a few ounces of weed.
He said he was committed to his new career as a doctor legitimizing medical pot use in California. "Cannabis is a miracle drug that works so well for so many reasons, for so many people, that millions are willing to risk jail and property seizures to use the medicine," he said in a Sacramento Bee report last November.
Now Allen is jailed in Mississippi and facing up to 30 years in prison in a mounting legal battle.
He was arraigned in a Jackson County, Miss. court last week on felony charges of manufacture of a controlled substance, transfer of a controlled substance and possession of between 30 and 250 grams of pot, said Assistant District Attorney Cherie Wade.
Jackson County Sheriff's Lt. Curtis Speirs earlier told The Sacramento Bee: "In the state of Mississippi, whether you think it's for medicinal use or not, it's against the law."
Before his indictment, Allen responded with a YouTube video (below), blasting his alleged mistreatment by authorities. He told The Bee he wasn't in Mississippi when authorities raided his ranch, seizing $800 worth of marijuana and $1,000 in hash and arresting a sister and brother-in-law.
He has been in jail since authorities re-arrested him on a visit home in December, alleging that he was attempting to dissuade the others from testifying by suggesting they all get out of Mississippi.
His trial is set for June 1.
Pictured above: Dr. David Allen at his former Medical Cannabis Evaluations clinic in Sacramento. Paul Kitagaki Jr./pkitagaki@sacbee.com
Below: Allen argues his case.
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