No Matter Why You Use

“No matter why you use, your life matters. Hope and help are here.”

Rhode Island paid media campaign launched October 16, 2025 by EOHHS, BHDDH, the Office of Healthy Aging and RIDOH to prevent overdose deaths among adults aged 45 to 64+, whose overdose death rates were about double the state rate in 2024. Portrait-style imagery and first-person lines acknowledge people use for pain, isolation, trauma or anxiety ("No matter why you use, your life matters. Hope and help are here.") on social, display, local and streaming radio and gas-pump TV, placed using RIDOH overdose heat maps, driving to PreventOverdoseRI.org.

Years: 2025–now
Country: United States
Budget: "funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) State Opioid Response (SOR) dollars, braided with $100,000 from opioid settlement funds" (RI OSAC update, June 2026).
Topic: Drugs Harm reduction Opioids
Asks people to: Reduce stigma Seek help Start
Strategy: Service link Stigma reduction Testimonial
Channel: Events Outdoor Radio Social (paid)
Audience: Adults Older adults
Rhode Islanders aged 45 to 64+, especially men, most of whom overdose at home.

Evidence

Self-reportedUnknown

PreventOverdoseRI.org traffic 80% higher year over year during the flight, peaking at 43,428 sessions in September 2025; 129 clicks to order and 40 to pick up a free medicine lock bag (54 attributed to paid media). PR Club Bell Ringer Merit Award.

Sponsor (who paid)

Rhode Island EOHHS, BHDDH and RIDOH Behavioral Health Statewide Communications Team State local government, funder and creator
Rhode Island Office of Healthy Aging State local government, partner
Rhode Island opioid settlement funds Settlement funded, funder ($100,000, braided with SAMHSA SOR)

Credits (who made it)

RDW Group Creative, 2025 source

Related campaigns

If It's Not Your Prescription, Assume Fentanyl. Every Pill. Every Time. 2023–now
Rhode Island Polysubstance Use Campaign 2023–now

Sources

EOHHS: Rhode Island Launches Aging Adult Substance Use Awareness Campaign: No Matter Why You Use (16 Oct 2025, via Wayback) sponsor · 2025
RI EOHHS: Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee update as of June 2026 sponsor · 2026
Rhode Island Opioid Settlement Annual Report 2025 sponsor · 2025

Research notes

US-RI. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: RDW Group ('The State partnered with RDW Group on the No Matter Why You Use campaign', EOHHS release). 'outdoor' stands for gas-pump TV screens. eohhs.ri.gov blocks curl and WebFetch; release read via Wayback. No ad uploads found on YouTube. Discovered 2026-10-22 for #17.

Record cases/ri-no-matter-why-you-use.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign