"States rights" is widely viewed as a racist dog-whistle [1]. States rights doesn't have to be racist, although it is very often linked that way [2]. The war o

"States rights" is widely viewed as a racist dog-whistle [1]. States rights doesn't have to be racist, although it is very often linked that way [2]. The war on drugs was instituted as a racist policy [3]. It's quite likely that the main motivation here is using drug laws to punish people of color. [1] http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_lesson/2007/11/dogwhistling_dixie.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history_less... [2] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/03/getting-states-rights-right/302133/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/03/getting... [3] http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richa...