Timesunion.com has named the articles that have been viewed most by readers this past year of 2008. The top three are a misspelling of Barack Obama’s last name in Rensselaer County last October, details on the use of  anabolic steroids of different rap artists and other celebrities, and a disrupted graduation due to a public display by a graduate of Saratoga Springs High School.

The article entitled “Steroids beyond sports” drew more than 170,000 people to the web site of Times Union after the public had learned that R&B and rap stars Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Timberland, and Wyclef Jean used steroids and injectable growth hormones. This news isn’t the first to be heard in Hollywood, however. Apparently, celebrities make use of such drugs not because they want to improve their performance like athletes do, but because steroids have anti-aging properties.

One of the celebrities identified to have been charged for illegal possession of steroids and human growth hormones was Sylvester Stallone, who was caught during a customs inspection of his luggage back in 2007. Stallone claimed that he needed the drug to slow down his pituitary gland’s production of growth hormone, and to put up with his training. According to the article, the public should focus on the people who provide athletes and celebrities like Stallone the drugs they use, instead of fixating on the athletes and celebrities themselves.

From Albany Times Union:

Information has surfaced recently showing those stars are among tens of thousands of people who may have used or received prescribed shipments of steroids and injectable human growth hormone in recent years. Law enforcement officials have said they have no evidence in their sprawling multistate probe that customers, including Blige or other entertainers, violated any laws. Instead, they are targeting anti-aging clinics, doctors and pharmacists who prescribed the drugs.

Tags: 50 cent, anti-aging drugs, celebrities, Hollywood, human growth hormones, Mary J. Blige, Performance enhancing drugs, steroids, Sylvester Stallone, Timberland, Wyclef Jean

Posted in Celebrities and Steroids, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids