Cannabis Rules in Ham Lake, Minnesota: Zoning, License Caps, and Where Adults Can Buy Today
How Ham Lake Regulates Cannabis Retail
Ham Lake didn't just defer to Anoka County, or copy its neighbor's playbook, when adult-use cannabis retail became legal in Minnesota. In 2025 the city wrote its own zoning and licensing rules for cannabis stores. Those rules now decide where a dispensary can locate, how many can open, and how close one can sit to a school or a park.
Cannabis retail as a permitted use in CD-1
Under Ordinance No. 25-11, Ham Lake added Cannabis Retail Business as a permitted use in CD-I (Commercial Development I) zoning. That designation matters because Minn. Stat. 342.13 doesn't let a city ban licensed cannabis businesses outright. A city can only adopt reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of how a cannabis business operates, and Ham Lake's ordinance is that local restriction. CD-1 is where it lands.
Buffer distances from schools, day cares, parks, and churches
State law gives cities the authority to keep cannabis retail at least 1,000 feet from a school and 500 feet from a day care, a residential treatment facility, or a park attraction that's regularly used by minors, such as a playground or an athletic field, under Minn. Stat. 342.13. Ham Lake's ordinance builds on that authority and adds its own separation requirement from churches. Anoka County adults who've already read about the cannabis rules in East Bethel and the Highway 65 corridor will recognize the pattern: each city along the corridor is setting its own version of these buffers, rather than treating the trade area as one uniform block.
How Many Dispensaries Ham Lake Allows
The one-per-7,500 license cap
Minnesota law sets a floor requiring cities to allow at least one cannabis retail registration per 12,500 residents. Ham Lake's city council chose a tighter local ratio instead: one license per 7,500 residents. The council approved that ordinance amendment unanimously at its June 2, 2025 meeting. Do the math and that works out to as many as three dispensary licenses citywide.
Why the licenses cluster on Highway 65
Because CD-1 zoning is where cannabis retail is a permitted use, all three of Ham Lake's licenses are confined to the Highway 65 corridor. In practical terms, that spreads the city's three allowed dispensaries across roughly a six-mile stretch of highway: about one license for every two miles.
How the Ordinance Came Together
Ham Lake's cannabis ordinance package moved through the standard municipal process over about six weeks in 2025:
- May 19, 2025: first reading of the ordinance package before the city council, proposing cannabis retail as a permitted use in CD-1
- May 27, 2025: Planning Commission public hearing on the proposed zoning change
- June 2, 2025: city council unanimously adopts the final package, Ordinance Nos. 25-09 (fee schedule), 25-10 (business licensing), and 25-11 (zoning)
The rules themselves are settled now. What's still catching up is buildout, since adopting zoning and a license cap is a different step than a licensed store actually opening its doors.
Who Can Legally Buy Cannabis in Minnesota
Minnesota's adult-use cannabis law limits purchase and possession to adults 21 and older. An adult may possess up to 2 ounces of flower in public, or 2 pounds at a private residence, along with up to 8 grams of concentrate and up to 800 mg of THC across edible products, including lower-potency hemp edibles. Every product sold through a licensed retailer must first be tested by a licensed testing facility. Rules change. If a specific figure changes, Ham Lake and every other Minnesota city will be regulating under whatever the current statute says, not a number frozen in place.
Where to Buy Near Ham Lake Today
Ham Lake's own licensed dispensaries are still working through the zoning and licensing process the city adopted in 2025. Adults 21 and older who want to shop now have a nearby option, also on the Highway 65 corridor, just south of the city.
5D Dispensary is located at 18447 Highway 65 NE, Suite B, East Bethel, MN 55011, two minutes off Highway 65. The entrance is on the Highway 65 side of the building, and parking sits directly in front of Suite B.
- Monday-Friday: 8 AM-7 PM
- Saturday: 9 AM-7 PM
- Sunday: 10 AM-7 PM
See store hours and directions for turn-by-turn navigation. First stop at a dispensary? Your First Visit to a Minnesota Dispensary: What Actually Happens walks through what to bring and what happens at the counter. Minnesota dispensaries also run on cash and debit only, so it's worth reading How to Pay at a Minnesota Dispensary before you go.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a licensed cannabis dispensary open inside Ham Lake yet?
Ham Lake's ordinance sets the rules for up to three dispensary licenses along the Highway 65 corridor, but adopting an ordinance and opening a licensed store are two different steps. Adults 21 and older who want to shop today can visit 5D Dispensary just south of Ham Lake on Highway 65 in East Bethel, two minutes off the highway.
How close can a Ham Lake dispensary be to a school, church, or park?
State law lets cities restrict cannabis retail within 1,000 feet of a school and 500 feet of a day care, a residential treatment facility, or a park attraction regularly used by minors, such as a playground or athletic field. Ham Lake's ordinance builds its own buffer requirements on that state authority, plus a separate distance rule from churches.
How many cannabis stores can open in Ham Lake, and why that number?
Ham Lake capped cannabis retail licenses at one per 7,500 residents, tighter than the state's one-per-12,500 floor. That allows as many as three dispensary licenses citywide, all confined to the Highway 65 corridor under the city's CD-1 zoning: roughly one license per two miles of that stretch.
Conclusion
Ham Lake settled its own zoning, buffer, and license-cap rules for cannabis retail in June 2025. Cannabis retail is a permitted use in CD-1, buffers apply from schools, day cares, parks, and churches, and the city caps itself at three licenses along the Highway 65 corridor. Buildout takes time after an ordinance passes. Until Ham Lake's own licensed locations get underway, 5D Dispensary in East Bethel is a short drive down Highway 65 for adults who want to shop today.
For adults 21 and older only. Cannabis products have not been analyzed or approved by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Keep out of reach of children. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery after use. This article is general information about products sold in Minnesota, not medical advice; talk to a licensed clinician about your health.