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The first service-disabled veteran and Latino-owned dispensary in New Jersey is open for business.

After launching The Cannabis Place as New York’s first licensed home delivery cannabis service earlier this year, retired U.S. Marine Osbert Orduna’s venture made its New Jersey debut, unveiling a flagship storefront Nov. 9 in Jersey City.

Orduna, The Cannabis Place’s CEO, said, “We picked this week to open because it’s symbolic in many ways: I am an Iraq veteran; we have the Marine Corps birthday and Veterans Day, so opening Jersey City’s first service-disabled, veteran-owned business makes this week even more special to us and our team.”

Growing up in New York City public housing, Orduna – a first-generation Latino American of Columbian decent – said he has first-hand knowledge of “the indignity of what it feels like to personally be stopped and frisked nearly 100 times, which is what happened to me as a kid and young adult for doing nothing else other than being a poor Latino growing up in the ‘hood.’”

As an Education Opportunity Fund scholar, Orduna was the first in his family to attend college, receiving a business degree and graduate certificate in law. While serving with the United States Marine Corps, he earned the designation of disabled veteran while deployed in Iraq.

After retiring from public service and becoming an entrepreneur, Orduna became interested in cannabis as an alternative to addictive prescription opioid drugs for veterans dealing with PTSD.

In starting his own business, Orduna looked to his military background and life experiences as inspiration to establish a model for other cannapreneurs to follow, one that demonstrates cannabis companies can bring economic empowerment and equity back into local communities.

According to Orduna, The Cannabis Place is focused on launching social equity dispensaries that create union careers with true living wages, no-cost health benefits and retirement plans, with a special focus on marginalized communities, veterans and those impacted by the failed war on drugs.

Leading by example

The grand opening comes about a week after the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 360 and The Cannabis Place announced the completion of the country’s first-ever cannabis retail pre-apprenticeship training program. 

Held at The Cannabis Place’s community impact room adjacent to its Jersey City shop, the two-week course showed nearly two dozen local participants the basics of working in a cannabis retail environment from the union. Following graduation, every student has now begun their journey to a unionized cannabis dispensary career with The Cannabis Place, the local said.

“We are a partner with our local community,” said Orduna. “That means running an ethical, pro-union company and boosting the prospects and prosperity of our neighbors. The Cannabis Place does that and is living proof that workforce investment equals immediate positive community impact. People now have opportunities for union careers here, no one was bringing this opportunity to the south side of Jersey City, I am proud to say that we are leading by example. People deserve an opportunity, whatever their background and skill level, and regardless of their history.”

“No one has done this before,” said Hugh Giordano, director of organizing at UFCW Local 360, which represents hundreds of thousands of employees in dispensaries, labs, manufacturing, processing, delivery and grow facilities across the U.S.

“We have a visionary employer harnessing our unmatched cannabis industry expertise to train ambitious, local, but often overlooked talent. It’s a scalable and repeatable model that delivers great value for employees, owners and consumers,” he said. “The best employers recognize the enormous untapped pool of amazing talent out there. Programs like this help attract that talent and release its potential.”

Located at 1542 Kennedy Blvd. in Jersey City, The Cannabis Place is open from noon to 8 p.m. daily, offering adult-use sales of flower, prerolls, vapes, concentrates, topicals and edibles.