MEMPHIS, TN - Memphis city councilwoman Janis Fullilove is talking about her addiction to alcohol and pain pills. Fullilove says she is having surgery next month to fix a problem with her vertebrae, which she says, in a way, led to her legal problems.
"Everyone wanted to give me a label as to what was going on with me, my problem. Yeah, I abused alcohol. Yeah, I abused pain pills. My problem was pain.”
Fullilove went on to say, "I'm gonna have surgery on December 11th. And it's taken me an entire year for doctors to figure out what was wrong with me from my legs to my back."
Fullilove says after the surgery, she won't have to take as many pain pills. She says she had been taking so many because doctors didn't know exactly what was wrong.
The Memphis City councilwoman faces three misdemeanor charges related to an earlier DUI conviction. Investigators say she fraudulently obtained a Tennessee driver's license after her license was taken during a DUI arrest in Mississippi. She's scheduled to appear in court December 1st.
