Working with the figures cited...I guess the next article I read about a local neighborhood or Park engaged in trying to keep some degree of safety I can deduce that only about 10% of the cash items were obtained by panhandling and all the test purchased with funds from working or other sources. City and community volunteers gathering up needles, empty liquor bottles, trash, cigarette butts etc., the majority of which requires cash money obtain. If only 10% of the panhandlers are scammers and it is not unusual for a "clean-up" to include dozens of needles and pounds of cash related trash...is the working assumption that 10% of this crap was purchased, used and left by panhandling scammers and the remaining 90% was purchased, used and left by 
non-scammers?...??, the needy, the working poor needing a hand up? The question is who if not scammers are "buying" the bulk of the drugs, needles, booze bottles, etc., and how do they get the cash to buy them?