The first registered medical marijuana patient in Minnesota toddled across sunlit grass and into his mother’s arms.

Three-year-old Wyatt sputtered happily as Jessica Hauser swung him up, up into the air to settle on her hip.

Then Wyatt’s eyelids fluttered and his head thumped against her shoulder as he sagged in her arms. Another seizure. One of hundreds that rip through his developing brain daily, endangering his life, unchecked by all the epilepsy treatments the family has tried.

Wyatt suffered seven seizures in the time it took his parents to explain why they’ve already booked an appointment to buy cannabis oil for their son this Wednesday, the first day it will be legal.

“No seizures. Doesn’t that sound good?” Jessica crooned to her youngest.

There will be no baggies of pot awaiting patients next week, when Minnesota joins 21 other states in offering medical marijuana. No glass pipes, no plants to tend at home. Instead, the nation’s latest medical marijuana programme is a world of pill bottles and vials of marijuana-infused oil.

For the qualifying patients seeking relief from pain, medical marijuana advocates and some lawmakers, Wednesday isn’t the finish line, but the first step. The state’s restrictive approach, unseen in the industry, is likely to mean high costs, long drives and reluctant doctors.

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) -

Midnight July 1, the first medical marijuana dispensary will open to Minnesota patients. Minnesota Medical Solutions is located on 9th Street, between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue, in downtown Minneapolis.

Verified patients and their parents or legal guardians will be the only people allowed inside the dispensary. As of Friday, June 26, the number of patients statewide has grown to 64 people. MinnMed's full array of pills, oils and tinctures will be available for sale. 

The motto for the first-of-its-kind rollout is “start low, go slow.”

As of last Friday, 14 patients have enrolled in Minnesota’s medical cannabis program.

Two weeks before the launch of Minnesota’s medical marijuana program, there are more doctors signed up for the program than patients.

As of Friday, the state had enrolled 14 patients in the program, out of the 65 so far who have been certified by their doctors to participate. That’s nearly double the eight patients who managed to get signed up in the first week of enrollment, but far short of the 5,000 patients the state had estimated might try the treatment in the program’s first years.

COTTAGE GROVE – In a field where soybeans used to grow stands a building where new plants are being cultivated to bring medical marijuana to patients in St. Cloud and others statewide.

LeafLine Labs on Wednesday opened the doors to its Cottage Grove facility to show off the place where medical marijuana is grown and processed into the liquid and pill form that will be available to qualified patients.

"If I didn't already believe in the power and the potential of a small seed and a big dream I most assuredly do now," said Dr. Andrew Bachman, as he pointed to the 42,000-square-foot facility that holds dozens of marijuana plants.

When Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey announced several months ago on Facebook that his suburb would be soon home to a new pharmaceutical business, residents were ecstatic over the new jobs it would bring.

But a day later, when he clarified that it was for a facility producing medical marijuana, people in the community were stumped.

The reaction on social media, Bailey recalled, was "Wait. What?"

City officials then had to educate themselves about medical marijuana so they could placate residents over concerns ranging from public safety to odor.

Jess Blake of Duluth breaks into tears and stops to wipe her eyes on June 4, 2015 as she describes how her brain tumor has changed her life. She's no longer allowed to drive, isn't able to read and tires easily. Blake is a middle school teacher at Esko, Minn., but is currently on medical leave. Blake and her parents are trying to get her certified to use medical marijuana when it becomes legal in Minnesota on July 1. 

Esko, Minn., teacher Jess Blake is confident medical marijuana will lessen the nausea that comes with treatment for the brain tumor she was diagnosed with in September.

Blake, 39, and her parents, Rick and Kathleen Blake of Grand Rapids, even have hopes that cannabis might make the tumor go away.

The Legislature's failure to expand Iowa's medical marijuana law has some parents of sick children looking to Minnesota.

Area lawmakers who worked to pass the proposed legislation suggested some Iowans may relocate to nearby states to access medicinal marijuana. Medical marijuana will be legal in limited form in Minnesota beginning July 1.

Some Cedar Falls families confirmed they're considering their options, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (http://bit.ly/1MsWswE ) reported.

"Obviously, they have all these good things about their bill, but it's proximity. So, you just gave yourselves competition. Minnesota moved forward. You chose to stay stagnant," said Brienna Decker.

MANKATO — MaryAnn Nelson said she has tried almost every seizure medication for her 13-year-old daughter, Rachael, who has Rett syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder.

But many have caused serious side effects, such as extended sleepiness and trouble breathing.

Nelson, of Mankato, has pinned her hopes on medical marijuana, which will become legal in Minnesota on July 1. She said she hopes to enroll Rachael in a clinic trial through her provider, during which she will receive medical marijuana in a closely monitored setting.

"We're out of tools in the tool box," Nelson said. " ... This is kind of a no-brainer for me."

This Aug. 8, 2014 photo shows Minnesota Department of Health assistant commissioner Manny Munson-Regala speaking at a meeting in St. Paul, Minn. The Minnesota health official instrumental in getting the state's medical marijuana program off the ground is leaving to become chief executive of a company that grows the cannabis — a move that may expose him and the Department of Health to questions about prior regulatory decisions. LeafLine Labs named Manny Munson-Regala as chief executive officer on Thursday, June 11, 2015.