Reading through the various articles my understanding is that this compensation is true if the smoker keeps off the ciggies before flying, if he has a quick one before flying though that is when he will suffer more.
Personally i find that speed comes into the sense of height, 5-10,000ft seems very high in a Moth or Piper Cub at 70Kts but does not seem so high in an A330 at 250kts or even in the RV at 150!