Beggars, homeless, street drinkers & drug users in Sheffield!

[airscrew 12]

It seems like if you're a beggar then laws don't apply and smoking cannabis and taking spice is allowed. They used to just sit there with their paper cups or their hats but now they walk around asking for money and can get quite aggressive when you say no. I have reported this many times to the council and police but nothing gets done. 

[Guest makapaka]

3 hours ago, WarPig said:

Sheffield town centre was an awful dump of a place to walk through today. The beggars were everywhere, most smelling strongly of cannabis. A few clearly on spice. Shouting and swearing aloud. What a dump of a city centre we now have. 

It’s a problem for most cities and we are by no means the worst.

 

try walking to/from Manchester Piccadilly on a night.

 

its like a scene from threads.

[airscrew 12]

31 minutes ago, makapaka said:

It’s a problem for most cities and we are by no means the worst.

 

try walking to/from Manchester Piccadilly on a night.

 

its like a scene from threads.

Threads was filmed in Sheffield 🙂

[Guest makapaka]

4 hours ago, airscrew said:

Threads was filmed in Sheffield 🙂

I know.

[WarPig 78]

On 01/01/2020 at 18:19, airscrew said:

It seems like if you're a beggar then laws don't apply and smoking cannabis and taking spice is allowed. They used to just sit there with their paper cups or their hats but now they walk around asking for money and can get quite aggressive when you say no. I have reported this many times to the council and police but nothing gets done. 

To be fair to the authorities, i don't see that they can do anything.

[Eccy Beach 11]

On 27/12/2019 at 21:07, makapaka said:

Oh yeah - doddle.

Do you think those people want to live a life begging on the streets to feed addiction?

Walksalot knows what he's talking about. Oversimplification of the issue and mislabelling of distinct issues causes confusion.

 

You're right, some folk who are homeless have complex and interwoven needs which are extremely difficult to unpick. In these cases it would be grossly unfair to label them as making lifestyle choices, or suggest its within their control to exit their current situation.

 

But in answer to your other question, yes, there are some who want to beg to feed a habit.

[Halibut 12]

5 hours ago, Eccy Beach said:

Walksalot knows what he's talking about. Oversimplification of the issue and mislabelling of distinct issues causes confusion.

 

You're right, some folk who are homeless have complex and interwoven needs which are extremely difficult to unpick. In these cases it would be grossly unfair to label them as making lifestyle choices, or suggest its within their control to exit their current situation.

 

But in answer to your other question, yes, there are some who want to beg to feed a habit.

So much better to beg than mug your Granny or burgle your house is it not?

[the_bloke 17]

17 hours ago, Halibut said:

So much better to beg than mug your Granny or burgle your house is it not?

Do you think people who have resorted to begging in the street to feed a habit don't commit other crimes as well? Some of the long term beggars in the city centre - the ones we see day in day out for years - are notorious shoplifters and banned from virtually every shop in the city. It's a fallacy to think that begging for money means said beggar isn't already illegally obtaining money for their habit in other ways.

[Halibut 12]

3 minutes ago, the_bloke said:

Do you think people who have resorted to begging in the street to feed a habit don't commit other crimes as well? Some of the long term beggars in the city centre - the ones we see day in day out for years - are notorious shoplifters and banned from virtually every shop in the city. It's a fallacy to think that begging for money means said beggar isn't already illegally obtaining money for their habit in other ways.

Give them their drugs on script for free. Much more sensible.

[pattricia 575]

4 hours ago, Halibut said:

Give them their drugs on script for free. Much more sensible.

For free ? More druggies layed about on pavements and alleyways then ! We need more doctors and nurses, that’s where any money should be going ! 

[RiffRaff 10]

2 hours ago, pattricia said:

We need more doctors and nurses, that’s where any money should be going ! 

True enough...but here's what confuses/worries me....

Think I've read that there are perhaps 100,000 vacancies across the NHS. If correct, that's another 100,000 salaries that would have to be found.

Another way of looking at that is that the the wage expenditure would be a lot more than it currently is...

On the BBC site this morning, there was a report about the NHS IT system being so out-of-date/complicated that some staff need to enter 15 different passwords to access whatever information/service they seek. Another way of looking at that is that the current expenditure hasn't gone down the IT route.

Millions are being thrown at the NHS year after year - so what's happening to it?!

[jaffa1 10]

7 hours ago, Halibut said:

Give them their drugs on script for free. Much more sensible.

Sensible?  It won't be for free someone would have to pay probably  the tax payer.

Then there's  the alcoholics, they would then want their booze for free, what about the smokers, don't  leave them out, free fags?