Alcohol "Pleasant," But Pain "Distressing," Doctor Says

Ingestion of alcohol is "actually pleasant," Dr. Tracy J. Putnam, of the Medical School, announced in a public lecture at the school yesterday, but it is a "potentially dangerous activity."

Talking about pain and its treatment, he advised that alcohol is in the "hypnotic group" and "induces sleep rather than relieves pain."

The trouble with students or anyone else taking opium, morphine or heroin to relieve pain is that their effect becomes less with continued use and they are habit forming, he explained.

After telling the many ways in which pain may be relieved by the onward march of modern science, the doctor emphasized that "there will always be pain," that "many people demand it," and that "pain is by definition ordinarily distressing."