The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, Nov. 30, edition that Canada's push to legalize marijuana could be a "game changer" for the recreational pot industry with the potential to reach $6-billion in sales by 2021. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that the federal government is planning to legalize recreational marijuana in Canada by 2017 with sales likely to commence in 2018. A vast illicit market exists that if brought into legal channels could result in demand of about 400,000 kilograms of cannabis in its first full year, Canaccord Genuity analysts Matt Bottomley and Neil Maruoka said Monday in a note. If legalization occurs along expected timelines, there will be about 3.8 million legal recreational users of marijuana across Canada by 2021, according to the note. Demand for medical cannabis is growing at a significant pace and by 2021, combined annual demand for medical and recreational cannabis will be about 575,000 kilograms, the report said. "Recreational upside could be a game changer," according to the note. The illegal marijuana industry is estimated at $7-billion per year and costs governments $2.3-billion to enforce, according to the federal government.