It is not a matter of empathy, but if someone donates to such kind of people, they would rather feel safe and still neglect their responsibility. They would simply think that if they all lost the money, they still get the community back up funds. Which is absurd. Nevertheless, it is a whole completely different problem, if the person itself is heavily addicted so their psychology is affected.
Yes, such “help” only breeds scammers and dependents. I have seen several videos on YouTube about people living in tents on the street in California and Los Angeles. They do nothing but use drugs and live like vegetables. They don’t have to try because local municipalities spend 60 thousand dollars a year on them (lol more than some workers earn by honest labor). They are not disabled, they could work, but since there is an opportunity, they chose a parasitic lifestyle.
Ah yeah, surely it also can potentially abused by the scammers, they may make a made-up story about why they got into financial ruin from gambling and such things. It is prone to those consequences. Hence it is a bad idea and decision in the first place.
Welfare funds surely have their own place, as I have mentioned, it is different cases if the matter is those who are psychologically affected. Addiction is a no joke, but it cannot simply be solved by merely supporting in a financial manner.