I think fears about the homeless robbing you are massively overblown. I've been panhandled hundreds of times, and the worst response I've ever gotten is a dirty look.

I also think that the people shitting on public, etc. are more likely to be mentally ill than addicted (although they could be both). The reason is that Drugs Are Really Expensive. Also, I'm not aware of any addiction that causes you to shit in public, but it's easy to find mental illnesses that would.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What causes the homeless to shit in public is that we barely have any public toilets. And the ones we do have are locked overnight, because we're terrified that gays will have sex in them.

[–] xX_fnord_Xx@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

They also don't want junkies to shoot up in them and nod off/OD and die on the premises.

*Edit to say I don't agree with limited public toilets. Just posting another reason why they don't exist in some places.

[–] pomodoro_longbreak@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

I have a house and a job and I've almost shit in public. I can totally see how it could happen if you didn't have access to one or either of those two (because they have bathrooms).