DA Williams On Not Charging City Lawyer: 'We Need Something More Than That'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams addressed the city's ongoing problem combating drug abuse, lamenting, during an interview with Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, how easy it can be for someone to fall into the cycle of addiction.

"So many people slip and fall or get hurt or get wisdom teeth extracted, like I did, and then doctors will prescribe you a month's supply of the painkillers and you might need them only for three or four days. People then become addicted to the painkillers and then when they can no longer pay the exorbitant fee at the pharmacy, for those Oxycontin or the Percocets or whatever the prescription is, they then go out to the street and get Heroin for five dollars and become addicted. That's what we're seeing."

He said law enforcement is battling the problem on multiple fronts.

"We have to have a wholistic approach. We have to do all that we can to reduce the flow of this poison to our community by going after those that are profiting off of the poison, those that are selling it and trafficking it. So, we have to do that. We also have to recognize...a phenomenal problem, when people hear that people are overdosing from a specific drug at a specific place, unlike you and I, if we heard somebody was selling something at a store and people died, we wouldn't want to go there, well addicts want to go and buy the drug because they think it's so pure that it's going to give them a great high."

Williams also responded to criticism his decision not to charge a city attorney caught on security video participating in the vandalizing of a grocery store in Chestnut Hill, saying he did not actually commit a criminal act.

"What people saw was there was a guy who was standing there with a wine glass while somebody was committing an act of, a crime. A guy was vandalizing property. For the most part, we don't charge people that are just present when somebody is doing something stupid. We need something more than that."