Some people feel that directly donating food to a panhandling homeless person is smarter, as it ensures they won't waste the money on drugs/alcohol.
Although this might be true, this view is somewhat naive. If you were in the position of the homeless person, someone who constantly needs to worry about being betrayed on the streets, would you trust food given to you by a stranger?
The answer should obviously be no. You have no idea if the person tampered with the food. If you're lucky, they might've just spit in it. If you're unlucky, it could contain something such as laxatives or straight up poison.
It's also especially dangerous at the moment due to the big scary pan dem -1c.