A friend, a smoker, asked me the other day if I could think of any otherwise lucrative markets that government legislation outlawed into oblivion. Prohibition notwithstanding, I came up with a few (hemp was one). But it also made me consider the other side of the question: What markets has legislation effectively created?

A boatload. In my lifetime, the health and safety markets have benefited, with everything from required inoculations to car seat mandates adding billions to the suppliers’ coffers. In the tech world, we’ve seen our share, too. The latest: Starting July 1, California drivers are prohibited from the use of a cell phone in a moving vehicle unless the driver is using a hands free device.

Hello, Bluetooth devices!