Seventy-nine people have been fined and one business prosecuted for breaking Wales's one-year-old ban on smoking in pubs and bars.
The Welsh Assembly Government claims support for the ban on lighting up in enclosed public places has grown since it was introduced on April 2 last year.
It said 84% of people now supported the ban, compared to 71% when it was brought in. The Stop Smoking Wales helpline has had a 20% increase in calls and 33% of smokers said they had cut down on cigarettes.
The relatively small number of fines was cited as proof that businesses and local councils adapted quickly.
David Jones of the Directors of Public Protection Wales said: "The public also reacted favourably, with a common response of 'We don't return from the pub now stinking of cigarette smoke'.
The Welsh Assembly was the first UK legislature to call for a ban, but it did not have the power to introduce one until last year after legislation went through Parliament.
About 6,000 people are estimated to die through smoking in Wales every year. The Assembly Government said it expected its ban to have a similar impact as Scotland's, introduced in March 2006, where hospitals saw a reduction in heart attacks during the first year.
Wales' chief medical officer Dr Tony Jewell said: "The introduction of the smoking ban in enclosed public places has been a milestone for public health and the single most important measure that the Welsh Assembly Government could take to improve the health of the nation and reduce health inequalities."
But Russell Lawson, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said there was now a "cloud of smoke" outside entrances that customers had to endure on the way in. "There is the endless stream of cigarette butts in the gutter that they have to clean up. Those kinds of repercussions are worth mentioning."
Julie Barratt, director of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales, said there had been an average 77% reduction in airborne particles in pubs.