Nearly eight years after he was arrested for possession of steroids at his Yorktown gym, bodybuilder Gregg Valentino still believes in the benefits of performance-enhancing drugs.

"I can't blame steroids for what happened to me," Valentino says. "I'm not saying they are good for you, but there is a reason they are around."

Valentino?s story regained attention after New York Yankees infielder Alex Rodriguez admitted Monday to using steroids from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. A-Rod claimed the pressure to perform well on the field lead to his decision to cheat.

Dr. Lawrence Niruwat says Rodriguez put not only his career, but also his health in jeopardy because risks associated with steroid use are even greater for young men, who can suffer from lack of sperm and damage to the testicles and heart. Niruwat adds women who take performance-enhancing drugs can harm their endocrine organs and ovaries, and suffer from irregularities in the menstrual cycle.

Valentino, who since his arrest lost his gym and much of his artificial muscle mass, agrees that young people should stay away from steroids.

"A-Rod messed up because he was too young to do it," he says.

Valentino insists, however, that Rodriguez and the other athletes who had become mired in steroid controversies should not be judged too harshly because drugs cannot replace athletic skills.

?If that was the case, then you could take bodybuilders, put baseball uniforms on them and they?d be hitting home runs, and that?s not the case,? he says.