Texas' first cannabis dispensary opened Thursday, but it looks nothing like the ones in states where recreational marijuana is legal.

At Compassionate Cultivation's dispensary near Austin, customers won't find marijuana to smoke or pot brownies and gummy bears to eat. One product is for sale: a specific kind of cannabis oil. Only Texans with intractable epilepsy can purchase it.

On Thursday, Christy Wilkens filled a prescription for her 2-year-old son, Oscar. The little boy with blond hair, glasses and tiny Converse shoes played with a rattle toy as cameras snapped photos and news crews filmed.

The Austin mother said she's been looking for a way to control her son's seizures since he was diagnosed at 5 months old. She said she's eager to try cannabis oil, which has shown promise for some with epilepsy.

But she said she's mindful of parents who have children with other neurological or medical conditions who are still left out.

"I'm saddened a little bit that Texas is so far behind the curve," she said. "It's taken this long for this day to come for Oscar and for everyone else. I know there are still a lot of people who aren't going to be able to get this medicine who really need it."

With its front desk, couches and chairs and piles of children's books and magazines, the dispensary resembles a clinic or the waiting room of a doctor's office, not a retail store. Registered patients and their family members can go there to buy cannabis oil or request a delivery by a company employee. But each patient must meet stringent state requirements, such as getting the approval of two physicians who are registered under the state's Compassionate Use program.

Cullen Vujosevic answered questions from a prospective patient the day before the opening of the dispensary at Compassionate Cultivation in Manchaca. Compassionate Cultivation, a state-licensed medical cannabis cultivator and dispensary, makes a specific type of cannabis oil for patients with intractable epilepsy. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

Compassionate Cultivation made the first sale of medical cannabis to a Texan at a dispensary today. Its facility and dispensary is in Manchaca, a small community about 12 miles southwest of Austin.

It is one of a growing number of businesses interested in cannabis in Texas, even though the state strictly limits cannabis products. There's been a "green rush" around the country, as more than two dozen states have legalized medical marijuana and eight states and the District of Columbia have permitted recreational use.

A 6-year-old girl in Central Texas received the state's first legal delivery of medical marijuana last week from Cansortium Texas, another cannabis company with a state license.

The dispensary's opening is the latest step toward medicinal uses of cannabis in Texas. In 2015, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas Compassionate Use Act, which allows companies to cultivate cannabis and turn it into products with a low level of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the compound associated with the plant's high, but rich in cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound used as treatment for epilepsy and other medical conditions.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has issued licenses to three companies: Compassionate Cultivation, Cansortium Texas and Surterra Texas.

Compassionate Cultivation is the only Texas-based company to receive the license. It was founded by five business partners who live in Texas, including the company's CEO, Morris Denton.

When he started the business, Denton said he was intrigued by the chance to lead in an emerging Texas industry. But after he received phone calls and emails from patients suffering from seizures and parents seeking a treatment for their child, he said it became a mission.

"They're our neighbors. They're our friends. They're people throughout the state of Texas who in some cases have had to go to other states, have had to take refuge in other states in order to get this medication," he said. "And they want to come back."

Morris Denton, CEO of Compassionate Cultivation, started the company with four other Texas business partners. He's given tours to politicians and neurologists to show them how cannabis oil is made. He said the tours help to dispel myths about medical marijuana. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

Sales at Compassionate Cultivation will start with CBD tinctures. They come in a tamper-evident, child-resistant amber glass bottle, along with a syringe to measure doses. Each bottle contains cannabis oil that's mixed with a fraction of coconut oil. Some have peppermint or cherry flavoring to make them more palatable.

The tinctures are typically taken by mouth. They come in two sizes: a 7.5-milliliter bottle for $105 or a 15-milliliter bottle for $200. Health insurance doesn't cover the medicine, so patients pay out of pocket with cash and credit cards.

Compassionate Cultivation sells cannabidiol tinctures, which are a mix of CBD and a fraction of coconut oil. Some have a peppermint or cherry flavor. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

At the dispensary's front desk, Cullen Vujosevic answered phone calls, greeted patients and answered questions. The 31-year-old Texas native and dispensary manager has a special understanding of the cannabis business and the plant's medicinal uses. About eight years ago, he was diagnosed with intractable epilepsy. After struggling with seizures, his Texas neurologist gave him advice. "She whispered in her office, 'You need to try medical cannabis,' " he said.

He tried the cannabis oil and said he saw a noticeable drop in seizures. He could go to college classes. He no longer had the nausea and side effects that accompanied other medications. He moved to Santa Fe, where he could take legal doses of cannabis oil, and eventually began working at a dispensary there.

But when he heard about Texas' changing laws, he reached out to Denton. He said he was eager to return home.

Jean Steensma of Round Rock posed for a photo on opening day of Compassionate Cultivation's dispensary. Her daughter, Amy, has struggled with seizures since she was a toddler. Zoe Steensma (right) also attended to support the company and her sister. (Melissa Repko/Dallas Morning News)

Jean Steensma drove from her home in Round Rock with two of her daughters. Her 34-year-old daughter Amy uses a wheelchair and has severe brain damage from seizures. Since she was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 1, she's tried more than 20 medications and been on a restrictive diet. But Amy still has seizures that can last 10 minutes and require heavy-duty medications with side effects like kidney stones and aggression.

She said she knows CBD isn't a miracle cure, but she's grateful for another tool.

Even though she's waiting to receive Amy's prescription, she said she wanted to be there and show support. But she waved at the people near the front desk and said she wished she were in line.