In a democratic nation of laws you could tax or ban something profitable (although even there it's a tough sell getting people to vote for higher taxes or costs), but in an oligarchy like the US, that lobby, those oligarchs, will work to undermine those regulations, e.g. by buying off Senators to vote against banning/taxing. Call me cynical but I agree with the GP that if there's money to be made, it will be made, regardless of the consequences. The government has kind of become just another part of the economy, in some sense.
