I don't doubt that there are people who start dealing in exactly that fashion, I just don't think it's the most common way. Looking back at the article however, I see you said 'many' and I probably read it as 'most', so we're probably both right.

As for my use of necessity, I certainly don't mean to excuse their actions -- perhaps 'believed necessity' would be more appropriate.

Last thing, I was also speaking specifically to what I know of American drug dealing, and I have absolutely zero knowledge of how well that information travels overseas.