^^Oh come off it... because there's nothing cool about that ghetto shit. I highly doubt he was selling crack to feed himself, and on the rare occasions that someone is literally starving, there's always options (even in the hood - shelters, pantries, odd jobs, neighbors, friends or with nothing else - panhandling).
As for this being the result of the drug war, yeah it's a consequence. The drug war sucks, for everyone. My question is though, since people brought it up in the first place, what exactly would people like this do if drugs were legal and sold in stores? Get jobs? What are gangs going to do for money without their biggest income? They'd just shift to other crimes.
Also: While they probably didn't have anyone teach 'em better, playing with loaded guns pointed at each other, fingers on the trigger is some darwin award shit.