Music artists used steroids, paper claims

Days after the Olympian Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in jail for lying about using performance-enhancing drugs, and with a long-running investigation of drugs use in baseball still ongoing, an American newspaper has claimed that the use of illegal steroids has spread into the music industry.  The report claims that soul singer Mary J Blige (pictured) and rapper 50 Cent are among recording artists who have made use of the drugs in a bid to appear young and fit.

The Times Union, the newspaper for Albany, the New York state capital, cited medical records and testimony from several unidentified witnesses in its report that that Blige, "Fiddy" and others, including Timbaland and Wyclef Jean, have received shipments of prescribed human growth hormone at hotels, production studios, health clubs and private residences. Often the entertainers employed pseudonyms to disguise their identities when ordering the substances.

Law enforcement officials have said they have no evidence in their sprawling multi-state probe that customers, including Blige or other entertainers, violated any laws. Instead, they are targeting the doctors, pharmacists and anti-ageing clinics who have prescribed the drugs. A former doctor from Queens, New York was sentenced on Monday to three to six years’ jail for rubber-stamping hundreds of drug prescriptions for
patients she never examined. None of the prescriptions she signed were for valid medical reasons.

Medical experts estimate that the use of steroids and human growth hormone is now a $10bn-a-year operation worldwide. For many celebrities, the lure of hormonal drugs is their supposed, unproven
anti-aging effects.

Baseball superstar Barry Bonds, who broke Babe Ruth's homerun record this summer, was indicted in November for lying under oath about his alleged use of steroids. He faces a sentence of about 30 months in prison if convicted. The trial is pending. ·