OPINION: The alcohol industry would prefer that alcohol did not cause cancer

OPINION: Alcohol Action New Zealand and the Cancer Society ran a joint one-day conference recently at Te Papa to discuss alcohol and cancer. I was surprised by the lack of response from the alcohol industries in the media. Their formula of intervening to spread doubt about the credentials of the researchers, and therefore the evidence, can usually be relied upon when we talk openly about the health effects of alcohol. On reflection, I see that an immediate response would have initiated an unwinnable debate over the evidence.