Incarcerated rapper LIL BOOSIE has called on U.S. authorities to swap his prison sentence for rehab so he can deal with the marijuana problem that landed him behind bars.

Boosie, real name Torrence Hatch, was handed a four-year jail term earlier this month (Nov09) after a judge ruled he had broken the terms of his probation.

The Wipe Me Down star, 26, was convicted of drugs and firearms offences in September (09) after a 2008 arrest in his native Louisiana when traffic cops caught him in possession of a gun, marijuana, and a drug-laced cigar.

He was put under house arrest but was found to have violated the rules of his release several times - prompting the judge’s decision to sentence him to jail time.

But Boosie insists his drug problem is a terrible addiction and claims he should have been sentenced to rehab instead of confined to a prison cell in Louisiana.

He says, “If I made a mistake with marijuana, why am I not eligible for rehab? I?ve been on marijuana since a teenager. I need some rehab. Jail is not rehab.”

Boosie accepts he was the one in the wrong and he regrets making such a big mistake - because he will miss the birth of his eighth child.

He adds, “I blame it on myself, because things I did, I wanted to (do). Trouble is easy to get into, but it’s hard to get out. I won’t be able to see my child born, that hurts.”