Exclusive: New Canna-Business in Jersey City Announces Opening Date

Alyza Brevard-Rodriguez - Owner of  The Other Side Dispensary (TOSD) & SW3AT Wellness

Jersey City entrepreneur Alyza Brevard-Rodriguez is days away from opening the doors to her latest venture. Since 2022, Alyza and her team have been working to open The Other Side Dispensary (TOSD) at 36 Congress Street in Jersey City Heights. The Hoboken Girl spoke exclusively with Alyza about an opening date for the dispensary and what customers can expect once they reach The Other Side.

About the Dispensary

Alyza Brevard-Rodriguez is the founder of SW3AT Wellness, and she views cannabis as a natural extension of the wellness benefits offered at SW3AT. “At SW3AT, we offer yoga, infrared sauna, and meditation which are all wellness tools,” she said. “To me, cannabis is just another option for people.”

Alyza, a veteran, suffered an injury during her final tour with the Navy and turned to cannabis to help her manage the physical and emotional injuries she suffered. “I was on all these pills that were prescribed to me by the V.A. and having all kinds of side effects,” she said. “It was cannabis that really helped my symptoms without the side effects. I realized that all veterans need access to this product in a way that won’t harm or punish them within the military.”

When cannabis was legalized in New Jersey, Alyza knew there was an opportunity for her, both to start a business and to connect more people with cannabis. In 2022 she began gathering her team, learning more about the laws in New Jersey, and started the process in earnest toward opening The Other Side Dispensary (TOSD).’The various tiers of state and local approval took months, and during that time, Alyza used her experience to advocate for others. “There is a huge social aspect of this topic,” Alyza said. “We want to present this information in a way that opens up some conversations. We want to get the brand out, and have conversations about what’s happening. That means getting on podcasts, going to conferences, and talking about Black and brown business ownership.”

What to Expect

Per Alyza, the experience at TOSD is one-of-a-kind. “This is a cannabis dispensary redefined,” she said. “It blends wellness, education, and luxury in the most interactive retail experience.” TOSD has what Alyza calls the Bud Bar, which she says is atypical for dispensaries in New Jersey. “Most dispensaries have the product in a vault, and customers can’t smell or see it before they purchase it,” she said. “With the Bud Bar, we are still in compliance with all the regulations, but the packaging is set up so that customers can see and smell the product.”

Alyza also credits her team for the top-tier experience customers can look forward to. “We have a diverse team who has been trained in providing education and a great customer experience,” she said. “We’ve spent a lot of time training for that, and they each bring their own flair to the shop,” Alyza says she relied heavily on her military experience to train the team. “I used the motto from my time in the military, ‘train like you fight, fight like you train’ to guide our training,” she said. “Everything we did here is going toward our goal of having a high-end experience with a focus on wellness.”

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