And no, they aren't going to be "eliminated."
ETA: from the link:
"The Liquor Control Board is supposed to license new stores and some of those could be current medical dispensaries switching to recreational stores, but just how many is up to the board. The bill sets out a list of businesses that should get priority for new licenses. At the top: Medical dispensaries that have been open since before January 2013 and that have applied to the Liquor Control Board for an I-502 license. In other words, people who’ve had an interest in the recreational marijuana game. As it stands today, at least 1,900 retail store applications have been submitted to the Liquor Control Board but not yet granted. We don’t know how many of those were submitted by medical business owners or by the same person applying for multiple licenses, but still—that’s a lot of people who may get a shot at a new license.
The process for getting medical growers up and running will be similar: The Liquor Control Board will have to reconsider the limits it has set on how much pot can be grown in the state and then open up more space to already licensed growers who want to produce new strains meant especially for medical use. Then, if those growers don’t use all the production space allowed, the Liquor Control Board can license new growers."
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