What some people don't seem to realize or want to acknowledge is that many on the streets experience mental illness that is untreated and often leads to self-medicating with drugs. Imagine yourself on the street and out of your mind. It would be terrifying. You wouldn't hesitate to call an ambulance for someone having a heart attack, but for someone having a nervous breakdown or mental episode people just stare or run away. I've seen it many times in broad daylight in Chinatown. And jail is certainly not the answer. Mental illness rates in the incarcerated are disturbingly high in a country that has the financial means to do much better by those with mental illness. Remember - sometimes mental illness chooses you, you don't necessarily choose it. And if you're born into unfortunate circumstances on top of that with no family to help you - Jesus would say help your fellow man.