In the world according to N.C. Fifth District Virginia Foxx, seatbelts and airbags would not be required on vehicles, speed limits would be a thing of the past, it would be OK for teens to purchase alcohol, no one working around asbestos and similar materials would be required to wear protective breathing masks, and ... the list could go on endlessly.

No, Foxx did not actually say any of that is OK, but those conclusions are not too outlandish based on some of her comments Wednesday.

Speaking to students at North Surry High School Foxx assailed government attempts to regulate and tax tobacco, saying that is no different than if the government were to regulate and tax Mountain Dew.

Let us repeat that: Foxx, a one-time educator who is now supposedly representing the state’s fifth congressional district’s interest in Washington, stood in front of a room full of teenagers and essentially said tobacco use was no different than drinking Mountain Dew.

We cannot think of a more inappropriate, indefensible, irresponsible comment, especially given her audience.

We understand the economy of North Carolina was built on tobacco. We know it is still an important, though smaller, part of the state and local economy. We get the idea of individual choice and individual freedom being preeminent, and we chaff at government erosion of individual freedom probably more than does Foxx.

But medically proven research has shown tobacco use is infinitely more harmful than drinking Mountain Dew. Tobacco products that contain nicotine, which encompasses just about all tobacco on the market today, can be highly addictive, while there has yet to be a study which shows Mountain Dew to be addictive. Tobacco marketing was once done in a way to attract children and teenagers, with the hope of hooking them for life — thus federal bans on such advertising.

And, tobacco use does cost state and federal governments — the taxpayers — tens of millions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid expenses treating the ill effects of long-term tobacco use, thus the higher taxes on the product, ostensibly using that money to fund the medical expenses.

While obesity is a significant problem in the United States that does cost taxpayers money, overuse of Mountain Dew would be a fractional component of what causes a person to become obese.

Let us say this again: Foxx stood in front of a room full of teenagers and essentially said tobacco is no different than Mountain Dew. That tobacco, as a legal product, should not be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be subject to higher taxes than other products, dubiously labeling this as an assault on personal freedom.

Later in her address Foxx told those gathered that college degrees do not make a person skillful. We can’t speak to that, but we can say that in Foxx’s case, college degrees certainly haven’t given her a clear view of reality.

The only good thing we can say is that we’re glad Foxx is no longer an educator, because we would not want someone like this addressing the county’s youth every day.

And until she issues a genuine apology and can convince the public she doesn’t really believe this, we wonder if it is appropriate for local school systems to allow her to address students again.