Remember San Francisco's Program to House the Homeless in Hotels? Well, Cops Just Busted a Narcotics Lab...

AP featured image — Armando Abarca, left, dressed as Batman, and Jessica Rose Davis, dressed as Wonder Woman, of Los Angeles, high five each other as they attend day one of Comic-Con International on Thursday, July 19, 2018, in San Diego.(Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Back in May, I wrote an article titled “Keep It Up, California: A Major City Gives Its Homeless Hotel Rooms, Alcohol, and Drugs.”

I explained at the time:

If you’re a charitable, caring person, perhaps you’d like to give homeless people something to help. You know, like drugs and alcohol.

If so, the San Francisco Department of Public Health is right there with ya.

Out in California — a place known for making the very best problem-solving decisions — the home of Rice-A-Roni is offering
those without permanent lodging a relaxing bit of the ol’ life.

How’s it turned out?

Well, in at least one case, not so good.

As reported by KTVU, cops were called to a hotel Saturday due to odd fumes emitting from one of the rooms.

Police evacuated the building and a hazmat team took over.

As it turned out, at least two residents (now arrested) were operating a narcotics lab.

The inn in question had taken part in San Fran’s homeless housing program.

Also being sheltered: those in coronavirus quarantine.

The Daily Wire nods to speculation the laboratory was used specifically for meth, but that remains unconfirmed.

As per Fox News, the police department released a statement:

“Officers conducted an investigation and discovered chemicals known to make narcotics, which were isolated to one guest room. Two adults were arrested for narcotics-related charges, some of which are possession of controlled substances, possession of controlled substances for sales, manufacturing controlled substances, and conspiracy.”

Here’s more about the hotel via the Wire:

The hotel has contracted with San Francisco as part of the city’s Shelter in Place program. The initiative pays for a room and meals for people who are under quarantine or at risk for COVID-19 and pays for homeless people to live in hotels amid the pandemic. It is unclear whether the two people arrested were part of the program, though they were residents at the hotel.

Still, some who live and work in the area raised questions about the program’s oversight after the incident.

“I would like for the government to have a bit more of a monitoring of the space,” one man who worked at a nearby business told KTVU. “I do see that a place like this can be abused to be used for those kinds of activities.”

“If you are housing people that are not there with a security deposit or anything that makes them liable, liability is key,” the man said.

He might have a point.

Due to the lab bust, the city’s been forced to update its rules for the program.

From now on, residents will get a load of this:

Revised wellness checks

Room inspections

Emergency safety checks

Safe exit policy revisions

Training and oversight measures

Perhaps for some lodgers, it’s the sad end of an era — for a euphoric moment in time, the joint was a truly full-service hotel.

But the whole setup’s had its critics from Day One.

For an article in the City Journal, Bay area KRON host Erica Sandberg fileted America’s Poop Pile Capital for the whole endowed endeavor

City and hotel workers are required to sign nondisclosure agreements and are forbidden from discussing what they’re seeing. Per the Mayor’s Declaration of Emergency, speaking out can result in a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment with a maximum sentence of one year, or both.
Nevertheless, concerned inside sources report destroyed rooms and rampant illegal drug use. In one hotel, guests are given needle kits and are advised to call the front desk before shooting up; there have been four deaths in the last few days. Sharp containers have been placed on every floor; used syringes are discarded haphazardly. Badly needed mental-health help is not being administered. The entire operation is disorganized, with staff members constantly moved around, never knowing what they’ll do from one day to the next. One source asked to make it clear that as public servants they love the city and all its inhabitants, but the plan has left them deeply demoralized.

The Golden State continues to overperform.

And I’ll give the city of San Francisco this, just as I did before — the more people they can keep making meth…I mean, housed…the fewer brown dots we’ll see on the map:

#PelosiTantrum #PelosiMeltdown

Meanwhile while in San Francisco… the Poop Map … pic.twitter.com/ujw4ZAIJyR

— Rose Carol (@RoseCarol3) February 5, 2020