Russell Brand, Richard Branson, Will Self and Sting are among high-profile names to have written a letter to the Prime Minister calling for drug possession to be decriminalised.

More than 90 celebrities, health experts, lawyers and politicians have signed the letter, which was drafted by drug charity Release. It states that current prohibitive laws have led to “unnecessary criminalisation” of more than 1.5million people in the last 15 years.

It also notes that evidence from Australia, the Czech Republic and Portugal proves that health problems related to drugs are “dramatically” reduced when users are provided with medical support rather than being prosecuted.

The call for change comes as the United Nations marks it annual International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and the Support Don’t Punish organisation mark its second Global Day of Action, which highlights how drug users are still “stigmatised and abused”.

The upheaval in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown has laid bare the racial tension gripping the area. With militarized police shooting tear gas at protesters, incidences of looting, more than 100 arrests, and at least one other death, you'd expect that the situation could get no worse — but it couldn't possibly be helped by the involvement of the Ku Klux Klan.

A Klan group based in South Carolina recently announced that its Missouri chapter would be holding a fundraiser this weekend for Darren Wilson, the police officer accused of shooting and killing Brown. The location is supposed to be somewhere in Sullivan, a town about an hour outside of Ferguson.

"All money will go to the cop who did his job against the negro criminal," the announcement said.

Charles Murray, the Imperial Wizard of the New Empire Knights, told VICE News that he and members of his group are in the Ferguson area in order to help protect white-owned business and white people from looting and violence.

"We are raising money for Officer Wilson," he said. "We are guarding homes and businesses of whites that feel threatened near Ferguson."

'Talk about PR suicide.'
"With blacks out of control, we have our Missouri Realm going to areas near Ferguson," a post that appeared on the group's blog on Monday said. "We can't have blacks robbing and murdering innocent whites. I am on my way down along with members from three different states and members from the Southern Mountain Knights."

In a report from The Wire earlier this week, Murray said his group had already raised over $1,200 for Wilson, who was placed on paid administrative leave directly following the shooting.

But law enforcement officials monitoring the situation told VICE News that they have not encountered any known KKK members in the area, nor have they recorded any official incidents or clashes between the white supremacist group and Ferguson residents. A VICE News crew operating in and around Ferguson has also not seen any indication that the Klan is active in the area.

'Want some Klandy?' The Ku Klux Klan launches a nationwide propaganda push. Read more here.

An officer for the St. Louis Police Department who asked that he not be named acknowledged that they are aware of the advertised rally in Sullivan, but noted that they hadn't yet found concrete proof of the proposed meeting.

It is highly unlikely that Wilson would knowingly accept funds raised by the alleged Klan organization, according to the law enforcement source.

The Mayor of Sullivan, Thomas Leasor, released a statement on Monday in which he said, "On behalf of the City of Sullivan elected officials and City staff I want to emphasize that we have not, or will not, endorse or condone any activity based on hatred, more specifically any activity based on hatred towards any ethnicity."

Frank Ancona, the Imperial Wizard of the Traditionalist American Knights, which he says is the only KKK charter based in Missouri, told VICE News that this type of fundraising violates the Klan's constitution. He also doubted the legitimacy of the New Empire Knights.

"You can't find a single media story about the New Empire Knights holding a rally or doing anything, really," he said. "They haven't conducted so much as a flier drive, where people have received their flier."

Referring to Charles Murray, Ancona said, "This is a guy who isn't using his real name, and who doesn't even have an actual website. He's using a Wordpress blog."

White supremacists screw with Easter, put hate messages in eggs. Read more here.

Murray posted a blog entry on Wednesday in which he accused Ancona of setting up a fake email address and using it to slander him.

"While I'm doing activism, Ancona is setting up fake emails and lying," the post said.

But the Imperial Wizard of the Original Knight Riders, a man who identified himself only as "Mr. B," told VICE News that his group has a Missouri branch, and asserted that there is "absolutely zero" concerted Klan presence in or around Ferguson.

"The KKK is not involved at all down there," he said. "The only way the real Invisible Empire would be involved is if a lot of white people got killed or were made to suffer. Anybody with a real Klan group has told all of its members to stay away. We don't need to be involved in that at all."

'This is a defining moment for Missouri': Jesse Jackson discusses Ferguson with VICE News. Read more here.

Ancona confirmed that he is aware of several Klansmen who have traveled to Ferguson and the surrounding areas to help friends and family stay safe, but that they have been instructed not to advertise their membership openly.

"There hasn't been some kind of mandate coming down from the top saying we need to get people out to Ferguson," he said. "I see no purpose to interject the Klan into this whatsoever. We'd create more discord and more animosity against whites and law enforcement up there if we were present."

Murray would not answer how he intended on delivering the raised funds to Wilson, or how long the New Empire Knights would be in the area. A commenter on the New Empire Knights blog wrote that he had been told to send money directly to Darren Wilson. "Mr. Murray told me that he didn't want people to think he was stealing funds," the commenter said.

A grand jury convened for the first time on Wednesday to consider possible charges against Wilson. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page on his behalf has collected more than $87,000 in the past three days.

“My son didn't shoot himself. I never believed it. I won't believe it,” said Victor White, Sr., the father of 22-year-old Victor White, III, who back in March, died from a gunshot wound.

It happened while handcuffed in the backseat of an Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office patrol car, during a drug arrest. According to State Police, who are handling the investigation, once at the jail, White refused to exit the vehicle.  As the arresting deputy requested assistance, they say white produced a handgun he had been hiding in his pants, and shot himself in the back.

But the autopsy, performed by the Iberia Parish Coroner's Office, reports the opposite, listing the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the chest. The family is puzzled as to how he could have shot himself in the chest with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"My initial response was correct, that something was awry, and that something had gone wrong,” said White, Sr.

The manner of death was ruled a suicide. But, the family of White aren't convinced.

State Police cannot comment, saying it's an ongoing investigation. White, Sr. says authorities aren't even talking to the family, leaving them without closure.

"Here is a family that, we are still grieving,” said White, Sr. “I'm angry the autopsy report took so long. I'm angry and frustrated with the fact that it's still not over."

Tom Devine, Scotland’s most celebrated historian of recent years, sent shockwaves through the country when he revealed in a news report in The Observer newspaper last weekend that he intends to vote in favour of independence on September 18. Now, for the first time, the full text of Devine’s declaration, made on August 15, in the Grill on the Corner restaurant, Glasgow, is published by The Conversation. It was made in the presence of New Zealand academic Angela McCarthy and Observer correspondent Kevin McKenna.

My engagement in the Scottish independence referendum campaign before now has been restricted to impartial academic interviews. And although I’ve only come to a yes conclusion over the last fortnight this has been a long journey for me. My preferred option would previously have been devolution maximus, but that’s not available. Moreover, even if there is not to be a yes win, it’s imperative that the yes vote is as high as possible in order to put pressure on the unionist parties to commit themselves to granting increased devolved powers, and as soon as possible thereafter.

I’ve never been a member of a party and am still not, so my position does not indicate support for the SNP; it’s simply in favour of independence. The SNP just happens to be a significant force in the campaign. The yes campaign is now a widespread movement and that’s encouraging for me.

Wall Street banks could desert Britain if the country decides to leave the European Union, senior figures in the industry have reportedly said.

Some major institutions are believed to be already drawing up plans to move activities abroad amid concerns that the UK is drifting further away from the EU.

Most US and Asian banks currently run their main European operations from the UK, which gives them a passport to provide services across the EU. But if the UK left the European Union, it is believed to be unlikely foreign banks based in London would carry on receiving the same rights.

According to the Financial Times, US-based banks including Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are considering Ireland as a favourable alternative location for business currently conducted in London.