You say that as though it's a defined, well proven fact that has wide agreement. The link you refer to properly points out that it's not at all widely agreed upon. Rather, it's a theory by one guy, derived from his reading of fiction that he decided to flip around, and then float in his recent book. He used a universal way to get maximum attention: be controversial.

This is not at all an accurate summation of the author’s purported work and expertise. He is currently a professor in literature, which is why he intros his work/thinking by referring to another author’s “mythological” framing of the drug war. But the author himself was a journalist in Mexico before he became a professor. And throughout the interview he references work/research by other scholars, as well as the work of journalist Gary Webb.

>with support from the US

bad policy isn't the same as support