I think that blame isn't exclusive. The US government is responsible for the entire problem, because murder, bribery, and corruption are being used by people purely in reaction to government policy. That doesn't somehow exonerate people that kill to preserve the cash flow that US policy institutionalizes.
The bribery and corruption actually occurs within government, so it's weird to separate those acts from the people in government that benefit from them.
There's no reason I know of why an above-ground drug trade would be violent, corrupting, or even attractive, other than if they're taxed wildly out of proportion to the strain that their effects would put on (a hypothetical) health care system, preserving the illegal trade to some extent. Sin taxes themselves are a form of corruption that attacks a minority by convincing a majority that they deserve it due to some moral failing. We can certainly figure out how to maintain a drug war on the poor while still legalizing drugs. If we don't bother, drug usage will become a chronic medical problem, like asthma.
> other than if they're taxed wildly out of proportion
Amusingly this seems to have happened to a limited extent with weed in Washington state. There's still a bit of availability on the black market, but not nearly as much as before. (Of course tobacco is also available on the black market the world over so I suppose it isn't unexpected.)
The bribery and corruption actually occurs within government, so it's weird to separate those acts from the people in government that benefit from them.
There's no reason I know of why an above-ground drug trade would be violent, corrupting, or even attractive, other than if they're taxed wildly out of proportion to the strain that their effects would put on (a hypothetical) health care system, preserving the illegal trade to some extent. Sin taxes themselves are a form of corruption that attacks a minority by convincing a majority that they deserve it due to some moral failing. We can certainly figure out how to maintain a drug war on the poor while still legalizing drugs. If we don't bother, drug usage will become a chronic medical problem, like asthma.