Past Conference Archive

ICAP conferences are intended to stimulate dialogue and present scholarly input on an alcohol issue that could benefit from further examination. They are intended to challenge conventional thinking and to provide a forum for the exchange of disparate points of view at the international level.

Symposium on Moderate Alcohol Consumption: Health Risk and Benefits

17-18 May 2006

The Inn at Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Leading international experts working on various aspects of health related to alcohol were assembled for a symposium on the health risk and benefits of moderate alcohol consumption.  The symposium was organized jointly by ICAP and the Institute on Lifestyle and Health of the Boston University School of Medicine.  Its goal was to examine the available scientific data on the health effects of moderate drinking and its implications for further research, providing information to the public and alcohol policy.

Alcohol, Ethics, & Society

16-18 October 2002

National College of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Participants were asked to identify specific "rights" and "responsibilities" for all parties in the alcohol debate. The position of the consumer, subject to diverse and often conflicting influences, was examined. The conference explored the general conclusions about the roles of key stakeholders in the sometimes contentious alcohol debate, identifying ethical principles that should guide them. Participants had the opportunity to propose concrete steps to translate these principles into action.

Permission for Pleasure

28 June - 1 July 1998

Marriott Financial Center, New York City, USA

Participants from more than 30 countries around the world gathered at the first-ever conference on alcohol and pleasure from a health perspective, Permission for Pleasure. The panelists and participants explored the role of pleasure in alcohol consumption and its consequences for the health of individuals as well as for society as a whole. Based on the discussions generated at the conference, a volume titled Alcohol and Pleasure: A Health Perspective, edited by Stanton Peele and Marcus Grant, was published in 1999.