UGK star BUN B has called on the media to stop harassing LIL WAYNE about his alleged 'syrup' addiction, because he will have to come to terms with his reported health problem on his own.

Lil Wayne - real name Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. - has, in recent months, reportedly developed a liking for 'syrup', the potentially lethal mix of prescription cough medicine codeine or promethazine with soda or juice.

The drink - which contains drugs usually only prescribed to those with severe colds and pneumonia - has become popular in the Deep South of the U.S., and New Orleans, Louisiana native Lil Wayne recently alluded to his struggle to quit the habit.

In an interview with MTV, he said, "Everybody wants me to stop all this and all that. It ain't (sic) that easy - feels like death in your stomach when you stop doing that s**t."

And fellow hip-hop star Bun B - who lost his UGK collaborator Pimp C in a codeine-related death last year (07) - insists continued pressure on Lil Wayne to kick his alleged habit will just force him to rely on the substance even more.

He says, "When you have 100 people telling you not to do something, that s**t doesn't work like that.

"People stop doing things whenever they sort of feel their way up to it. The kid said he would love to stop, but the withdrawal symptoms are too intense for him. Anybody going through something like that knows what it is."

Pimp C - real name Chad Butler - died in his sleep in a Los Angeles hotel on 13 December (07), aged 33. His death was ruled an accident - the result of a pre-existing condition he had of sleep apnoea, combined with an accidental overdose of prescription codeine.