At The Fours, a restaurant and sports bar in Quincy, most smokers greeted Massachusetts’ new statewide smoking ban Monday with a shrug and walked outside when they got the urge to light up.

The ban, which went into effect Monday after weeks of publicity, prohibits smoking in all restaurants, bars and work places in Massachusetts.

Work place smoking bans had been adopted earlier in about 100 cities and towns in Massachusetts, including Boston. Smokers in those communities had become accustomed to going without cigarettes while indoors. But in cities such as Quincy, which allowed smoking right up until the statewide ban went into effect, there was a definite clearing of the air Monday.

“People have noticed how nice it is with no smoking here,” said Ed Morris, manager of The Fours.

“Some people were aggravated that they had to go outside and have a cigarette, but so far the reaction has been pretty positive.”

In Abington, a town that has been nonsmoking for the last nine months, the statewide ban had little effect, except to raise the hopes of local restaurateurs hoping to get back some customers they lost when they banned smoking last year.

“A lot of them left because a lot of the surrounding towns, you could still smoke. Our business was off about 15 percent, so it wasn’t a good thing,” said Javier Perez, general manager of the Abington Ale House & Grille.

“Now that it’s an even playing field, you just have to build your business back up,” he said.

At the Elmcourt Hotel in Brockton, one of the communities where the statewide ban led to new restrictions Monday, ash trays were removed from the hotel’s hallways and from a hotel lounge.

“Until people get used to it, I think we may have people suddenly realizing, Oh, I can’t smoke in here,’ and putting their cigarettes out in the rug or on the walls,” said the hotel’s manager, Chip Yannone.

“I think everyone is going to be a little ticked off. It’s an inconvenience to go outside and have a cigarette.”

State public health officials say they plan to aggressively pursue violators of the new smoking ban.

Ian Lang, chief of staff of the state Department of Public Health, said he expected 95 percent voluntary compliance by Labor Day. Smokers are subject to a $100 fine for each violation of the law, while business owners who allow smoking in their establishment face fines of up to $300.

“We consider this a tremendous victory for the health of workers,” Lang said of the new law. The DPH has set up a complaint line, and also plans a public information campaign to educate business owners, workers and the public about the law.

The state will continue to hold training sessions for local boards of health, which have the primary responsibility for enforcing the new law. The ban was enacted by the Legislature earlier this year and signed June 18 by Gov. Mitt Romney.

Private clubs and cigar bars are exempt from the ban.

AP-ES-07-05-04 1618EDT