Newly appointed Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has reportedly reversed a seven-year policy that allowed the general public to use store bathrooms without making a purchase. The policy had resulted in widespread drug use at certain store locations, particularly in lawless, Democrat-controlled cities.

The Wall Street Journal obtained a copy of a memo sent to employees outlining the new code of conduct being rolled out across stores in North America. 

"There is a need to reset expectations for how our spaces should be used and who uses them," Starbucks North America President Sara Trilling said in the memo. 

The updated policies also include adding signs prohibiting harassment, violence, threatening language, outside alcohol, smoking, and panhandling in its stores.

In 2018, former CEO Howard Schultz transformed Starbucks into America's "largest public restroom" by allowing non-customers to use the chain's bathrooms across thousands of US stores. 

Schultz's bathroom policy backfired...

Ensuring safety with new bathroom policies is just part of Niccol's turnaround strategy to save the struggling coffee chain, which has suffered from three straight quarters of declining sales.