Dancing with drugs

 

Not surprisingly, the investigation will be taking a look at the bottles of prescription drugs that were found in her room.

 

Whitney was, after all, a self-confessed drug addict, whose once extraordinary voice was raspy and hoarse by the time of her death - a side effect of years of drug abuse.

 

Hers is a familiar tale. The shining star that hits the self-destruct button and tragically fizzles out all too soon. “The biggest devil is me. I’m either my bestfriend or my worst enemy,” she said in a 2002 interview.

 

It might be a sentiment the Ugandan artiste is not immune to. No matter the continent, superstardom comes with a unique set of pressures and influences that perhaps predispose the ill-advised artiste to substance abuse.

 

It is unlikely that any Ugandan artiste will come out in the open to confess to it, but that did not stop their confidants from telling us a few things.

 

 

Although he has in the past denied abusing drugs and even campaigned against drug use, Bobi Wine is the Ugandan artiste most associated with the habit.

 

A source told us that when his Firebase Crew used to operate from Kamwokya, Bobi Wine often sent his ‘boys’ to buy him ‘supplies’ from a supermarket. It would only take about five minutes for the goods to arrive so the supermarket cannot be far away from Dream Studios.

 

The most common distributors of marijuana, however, are street vendors and shoe shiners.

 

“All shoe shiners survive on trading in drugs,” believes Thaddeus, of the Rabadaba stabbingfame.

 

For years, Wilson Street has been a popular source of marijuana.

 

There are also points around Pioneer Mall where it can easily be purchased.

 

A source close to Jose Chameleone’s Leone Island, however, claims that the “high grade” stuff comes from Kafumbe Mukasa Road behind St. Balikuddembe Market. This area is also a supply centre for mairungi. It is difficult to say that Chameleone himself uses drugs. If he does, he is careful to do it out of sight.

 

However, some of the theories surrounding the Arusha accident, in which he injured his feet, do not eliminate the likelihood of drug abuse.

 

The smoking joints 

Given that drugs are illegal in Uganda, most of the artistes with a drug habit opt to smoke it from the safety of their homes.

 

One home that has gained something of a reputation as a place where drugs are smoked is the Goodlyfe home in Makindye. Close sources say Goodlyfe owns a shisha machine which more often than not contains more marijuana than other shisha flavours. Menshan is said to be rarely seen in Kampala because his home in Entebbe is a safe haven for him.

 

A lot of smoking also goes on in music studios in and around Kampala. At one time, you had to be granted special permission to go into the inner sanctum of Dream Studios.

 

The door that leads there was clearly marked “No police allowed”.

 

The Firebase Crew, it is said, would smoke from there throughout the day.

 

Eddie Yawe, the owner of Dream Studios,often complained of Bobi Wine’s crew tarnishing the studio’s name because of the marijuana smoking that went on there. “Where can I find space to build a studio along First Street?” he asked TShaka Mayanja about two years ago.

 

His reasoning was that since Steve Jean, who has a studio in that area, has managed to keep ganja away from his studio, he would have better luck there. Yawe has not found that space yet, however.

 

A backstage pass at concerts would ordinarily be a hot item, as it affords one the chance to mingle with the stars.

 

In Uganda, however, having a backstage pass could be equated to having an entry visa to a completely different country; one where there are no rules.

 

Concert organisers are careful not to keep particular artistes waiting backstage for too long. The longer you make Bobi Wine wait, for example, the more ganja will be smoked. The first time Elephant Man came to Uganda, Bobi was his supplier at the Steet Jam.

 

The backstage was a cloud of smoke. At the mass concerts that take place at Nakivubo Stadium, the artistes keep their drugs with crew members who hand them over when they are needed.

 

“That was Red Banton’s job when he fell on hard times,” says a friend of Mega Dee. At that time, Red Banton was under Mega Dee’s wing.

 

Sometimes there is an event with no backstage facility set up. But where there is a will, there is a way, and so the artistes find alternatives. At the Bob Marley birthday celebrations at The Heights, for example, they simply stood in groups near the fence.

 

Several artistes also smoke from their cars. A former journalist who tried to sell a car to producer Washington Ebangit says: “After a test drive, he brought it back and it smelt like a ganja chimney.” Bobi Wine’s van was also notorious for that. “I was offered a lift in that van from Angenoir to Ntinda.

 

Buchaman advised me to take the front seat because the rest were going to smoke weed,” says another journalist.

 

In the same way Jamaican artistes come and smoke weed from Kampala, the Ugandan artistes smoke from abroad. A picture of Juliana smoking with Bobi Wine while on a European tour once appeared in The New Vision.

 

Given Bobi Wine’s reputation, the picture naturally caused consternation among Juliana’s fans.

 

Abroad, maintaining a drug habit can be expensive business that leaves the drug abuser embarrassingly broke. However, most Ugandan artistes are marijuana smokers so it does not injure their wallets.

 

“Depending on size and grade, a stick costs between sh200 and sh600,” says the manager of a music group. Only a handful of artistes are said to take the ‘harder’ intravenous stuff. A girl group manager says one of Straka’s ex-boyfriend’s is perhaps the biggest spender.

 

Bobi Wine is said to spend on his entire crew. When Dizzy Nuts left Firebase Crew for Bebe Cool’s camp, he often referred to his time with Bobi. “Bobi used to buy us weed and while we smoked with him and sang anything on our minds, he took note. In a short while he would record your song as his,” said Dizzy Nuts.

 

Reasons for consumption 

So then, why would one use something that makes you lose your mind, so to speak? Menshan believes that marijuana is good for meditation. “But do not say that I smoke it,” he warns.

 

There are also artistes who use it to ward off stage fright.

 

Some artistes, like Dizzy Nuts, have claimed that weed is good for the voice. Some turn to it in times of difficulty.

 

When the Chameleone-Weasel beef was at its highest, Weasel is said to have smoked more. A close source said he even smoked it in the presence of his parents when they paid him a visit to sort out their children’s differences.

 

A few artistes have resisted the lure of drugs. Surprisingly (given his proneness to chaos) Bebe Cool is one such artiste. Nazizi tried to convince Bebe Cool to smoke, to no avail.

 

“Bebe Cool is not man enough. He cannot even smoke a joint,” Bobi Wine once told friends.

 

Nature demands that everything that goes up, comes down. So, after the highs wear off and the smoke has dissipated, tales of ruin often remain behind.

 

Menton Summer, who passed away in an accident, was rumoured to have been under the influence of drugs while Jjajja Nana, formerly of Firebase Crew, is roaming the streets of Natete.

 

The mental state of Kabaya, also of Firebase Crew, is questionable. Some artistes also have very low attention spans and cannot go through a recording session without lighting up.