Chekesha Hukins knew from the time she was seven years old, she wanted to be a lawyer, and from the time of college, she knew she wanted to be a prosecutor. As she puts it, she does not have a defense attorney bone in her body.

For a lifetime in the law, she has become a career prosecutor, with a primary emphasis on illegal drugs, in a three-county district in eastern North Carolina, based in Craven County in the city of New Bern.

There is no one better to talk about the increasing dangers of such drugs to all of us, particularly our young people, extending deep into high school years.

She is tough, but she is compassionate. She lives the meaning of tough love every day.

A real problem is that many of those who use drugs often do not know what they are taking, or from where they came. They do not know the harm that can come to them, and that what they are doing might kill them.

Too often, those who use drugs just want the high they can get, and once they have it, they want it again and again. They are violating criminal law, and perhaps even worse, they are becoming addicted, changing, maybe forever, the direction of their lives.

Hear Chekesha talk about where bad and illegal drugs come from, how they are distributed, who takes them, and all the bad things that can happen as a result.

But also listen to Chekesha talk about how she believes there is one way to slow, if not stop, their ever-increasing use, at least among the youngest among us. It is difficult, and there is no guarantee of success.

In a sobering conversation Chekesha Hukins talks about a stark reality in our world. She believes every day she goes to work, she succeeds, because she does her best.