GREENSBORO -- Since 1999, 12,000 people have died from overdose in the state according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Many of those lives have been saved because of naxolone. Groups have handed out kits for users to keep on hand just in case the worst happens. They tell them to keep it no matter the expiration date.

"I think, they can always come in and get more if they're worried about the expiration date. I think as long as they have it, they're in good shape," says Urban Survivor’s Union director, Louise Vincent. “If they have it and they're trained in overdose recognition and reversal and they know to give oxygen until the paramedics arrive and then they're in good shape."

Urban Survivor's Union has given out more than 1,500 kits so far this year. They say 300 of them have been used to reverse overdoses.