On-the-job stress was examined in relationship with the strength of need to use and the frequency of use of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription (P) drugs and alcohol (A), across five teacher samples (N = 1788). The Total Strength and Total Frequency Scores of the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) were used to assess stress levels. It was determined that: 1) high stress frequencies were significantly related to the frequent use of OTC, P, and A substances, 2) high stress strengths were significantly related to perceptions of the strong need to use such substances; 3) 6 percent to 11 percent of the teachers reported a great-to-major need to use chemical substances to manage stress, while 3 percent to 11 percent reported actually making use of these on a neardaily or daily basis; 4) the Total Stress Frequency can be used to predict the frequency of substance use; and 5 ) both the Total Frequency and Total Strength measures can be used to predict the degree of need to use stressbuffering substances.The hazards of drug abuse encountered during the Tylenol scare brought to bear a long-known but little addressed realization-drugs are so frequently abused and have become such an intrinsic part of our society that many of us are no longer aware of them. The presence and availability of over-the-counter (OTC), prescription (P), and alcohol (A) substances have become a big business. With *