I have only been a member for a couple of years, but during that time I have either seen messages in forums or received PMs questioning why some of us have RCs stating "no tobacco smell," and why we RWAP books that have such.

Those who do not undersand such RCs need to read

Judge orders tobacco firms to say they lied about smoking dangers.

Well, it shouldn't really matter. Even if smoking were 1000% safe if I don't want smoky books I'm entitled to specify I don't want them. Don't like the RC then turn it down but no one should be able to question you on it or harrass you about it.

I wonder if this will make people think twice before they start smoking.  I am amazed that, with today's knowledge and facts about smoking, kids still take up smoking.  

Although a worthy news topic, the article in the OP does not talk about third-hand smoke, which is really the issue with swapped books. 

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/third-hand-smoke/AN01985

I've seen articles about the increased percentage of cancer in pets from smoking homes, especially oral and throat cancers. The residue gets on their skin and fur and they lick it off. I'm all for freedom but this is one habit that kills everything around you too, whether they choose to indulge or not.

I have such a severe allergy to tobacco smoke that even third hand smoke can give me terrible headaches. I don't even have to be aware that the smell is there is get them. I became an anti-smoking activist long before it became politically correct, and got the first two buildings on the University of Florida campus declared non-smoking long before it became state law.  I endured a lot of harassment, but it was worth it. Now the entire campus, even the outside, is a non-smoking area.

My RC on tobacco smoke resulted after having to leave some books on the porch for weeks to get rid of the odor.

Aside from the illness that smoking causes, the cost of which was built into everything we bought, government and business finally realized that letting a smoker take a 5-minute (1/12 of an hour) smoking break an hour translated into paying them one month a year to smoke instead of working. Even the airlines, which pretended that they wanted their passengers smoke, finally admitted that it cost the airlines tens of millions of dollars a year to remove the smell from the planes.

I have a number of books that arrive with a strong perfume smell. Many of these now end up on the porch also, as when the perfume dissipates, an underlying tobacco smell emerges. When I receive such a book, I now wait a few days to see if someone tried to cover up the tobacco smell and then I'll RWAP it.

It does not matter whether tobacco smoke is harmful or not, or whether perfume is harmful or not, or whether books with red covers are harmful or not.  People may put whatever they what in RCs.  Senders may decide to turn down the request.  Simple, right?

(Personally, I hate the smell of Goo-Gone, and if it were at all common, I would probably have an RC against it.)

Oh gosh! I love the smell of Goo Gone!

But I hate the smell of smoke. I was raised in it. When I was giving birth to my first child (my son), my daddy saw a poster in the waiting room that told about the effects of smoking on children. Right then, he decided him and my mama wouldn't smoke around the baby and they never did. They eventually quit smoking altogether, thankfully.

Ironically enough, that same child that inspired them is the one who snuck around smoking cigarettes when he was in high school and now smokes Marlboro. He hid it from us for a couple of years (or so he thought, hehe) and still doesn't smoke in front of us or in our house. If he did, I'd put him out. I just want to thrash him for starting such a nasty, stupid, dangerous, expensive habit. I have no idea why he picked it up. It's the stupidest of many stupid things that he has done.

I know that, to my parent's generation, it was cool to smoke and that's probably why they picked it up. These days? I can't believe anybody thinks it's cool. I hesitate to get into discussions on it, because I believe people have the right to do as they please in their home. But smoking (like making meth) doesn't just affect the person doing it. It doesn't just affect the people who live with them. Obviously, it can affect anyone who knows them or who lives in the same place after the smoker moves out. I believe it's just a matter of time until it's outlawed. While I don't think it's right to do that, I'll kind of be glad when it happens. Glad for all the kids who (like me) don't get a choice about what they breathe.

Health Schmealth, I hate the smell of smoke.
I also hate the smell of boiled cabbage and that's healthy.

I don't even have to be aware that the smell is there is get them.

I can often feel it in my chest long before I can smell it. I can be out in public somewhere and say someone is smoking, everyone looks at me like I'm nuts, then a few minutes later they can smell it.

I hate the smell of Goo Gone too...and cheap fake lemon cleaners. ;) The chemicals used to create those scents are just nasty. i also hate that my upstairs neighbors smoke the cheapest, skunkiest marijuana I have ever smelled and they do it daily and in large amounts...the smell comes in through my windows and i'm pregnant..the last thing I want is to smell other people's drugs. I have to keep all my windows closed when they start. Ugh! I am so glad we are moving in a few weeks. :)

I'm a non-smoker but if I have a book from another member I'll turn down the request just because I have no idea if it has been in a smoking home. I know the smoke odor can linger for what seems to be forever. But if it was only in my home I have no problems sending it along.