ESCATAWPA, Mississippi -- Dr. David Bruce Allen, the former heart surgeon who was held in prison for 14 months on drug charges that were eventually dismissed, returned to Jackson County last week and testified in a deposition connected to his $551 million federal lawsuit against Jackson County and Sheriff Mike Byrd.

"I testified about two or three hours with the (county) board attorney and my attorney Michael Crosby," Allen said Monday. "Several people are talking to attorneys regarding the sheriff and improprieties of planting false evidence."

Allen is planning to host a get-together Saturday at 3 p.m. for his supporters at his property on Miss. 613 commonly known as "The Blue Hole."

Allen, who returned here Wednesday for the first time since the charges against him were dropped in January 2012, is naming the event "This Property is Protected by Angels."

"The property has been put back in working order and we're getting things ready for Saturday as kind of a community gathering," Allen said. "It's a wonderful place. A lot of people swam here when they were young. I'm giving thanks to God that I'm still alive and that I was able to save my property for my children's inheritance."

Asked how many people he expected to attend his party, he said, "we hope at least 10 or 15, but I suspect there will be a ton of people. I saved hundreds of people's lives in this community. I know some dignitaries will be there," but he declined to name any.

Allen said it will be a swimming party and barbecue, and there would be no alcohol or drugs.

"I went swimming yesterday and the Blue Hole is as full as a tick and bath tub warm," he said, said of the large lake created from the dirt pit used to build Miss. 63 north. "It's blue and clear."

Since all charges against him were dropped in January 2012, the doctor has maintained his medical marijuana clinic in Sacramento, Calif., and he has worked as a research scientist with the international Cannabinoid Research Society.



Allen worked in Pascagoula from 1994-2007, operating a clinic on Hospital Street. He also had privileges at Singing River Hospital and performed numerous heart surgeries, including operations on several community leaders -- including former Jackson County Sheriff Pete Pope. Noted by many as one of the state's finest heart surgeons, he said he performed his last heart surgery in 2007.

In March, Allen filed a $551 million federal lawsuit against Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd, the Jackson County Board of Supervisors, the former Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County and other defendants, alleging civil, constitutional and human rights violations. Byrd and the county are also facing a $30 million lawsuit by former Ocean Springs alderman James Hagan, who was completed cleared of child pornography and embezzlement charges.

Narcotics agents raided Allen's 50-acre property in February 2009 and accused him, his sister Gail Lee and his brother-in-law Rodney Lee of growing high-grade marijuana on the property and shipping it to California.

Allen originally face 6 charges - 3 drug-related and 3 for witness tampering. Judge Robert Krebs tossed out 4 of the charges at the February 2011 trial and the jury was deadlocked on the remaining 2 charges, which were dismissed by the district attorney's office in Jan. 2012.

"They ran my family off the property and it was in their possession for three years," Allen said. "They didn't protect my property. They allowed people to break into and steal things that were of any value. They let the property get overgrown. Animals and robbers had full access to the house. There was human and animal feces in the house and rat nests."

Allen said the Lees have returned to the property and have been living there about a year.

"They testified against me, but I've forgiven them," Allen said. "I'm just trying to put my family back together and praise God that we're still alive.

"My brother-in-law has been working on it and it looks pretty good right now. It's not in the shape it was before they took it but it's a lot better than when we found it. A lot has been destroyed and we don't have the money to replace everything."

Allen, meanwhile, remains a crusader for medical marijuana.

He has written numerous articles and penned letters to politicians advancing his cause.

"Marijuana is not just pot, not just smoking it," Allen said. "The best benefits are from eating raw marijuana, though it tastes bad. It will protect you from diabetes and a bunch of other problems."

His research also focuses on the endocannabinoid (ECS) system, which he described as "the single most important medical discovery and is probably more important than the application of sterile technique in surgery."

Allen said he just conducted a study and called all of the medical schools in the United States and asked the curriculum directors if they had a department of ECS science, if they taught ECS as an organized class or mentioned it in another other courses.

"The results are, as you might guess, that no medical school in the U.S. teaches ECS as an organized class and only 13 percent even teach this at all," Allen said. "It controls everything, whether you get cancer or not, whether you get diabetes or not. In the future, if your doctor does not have a working knowledge of ECS and the ability to manipulate it for physiological effect, he will not be able to call himself a physician. In the future, your doctor is going to have to know about ECS to help patients."

Allen said he will be returning to California after this weekend's event at the Blue Hole.

"I'm quite fearful of the sheriff," Allen said. "We've seen the police on two occasions since we've been back, two encounters. The first night we were here we pulled out on Highway 63 South and a deputy's car came up at a rapid speed behind us, then passed us going 90 mph plus and then way ahead of us he pulled on the side of the road. When we passed him, he did the same thing so I know they were checking my tags.

"The next day, coming out of my property, there was a regular motorcycle parked at the mortuary across the street but the man had a uniform on. By the time I got my camera out to take his picture, he drove away."