The Act established that, from 26 March 2006, it would be an offence to smoke in any wholly or substantially enclosed public space in Scotland, with a small number of exceptions, such as: prisons, care homes and police interview rooms.

It passed on 30 June 2005 with an 83 to 15 vote, with only the Scottish Conservatives opposing, and received Royal Assent on 5 August 2005.

Compliance rates have been high, and as of 14 June 2006, only one premises has been fined for permitting smoking, and that happened on the day the Act came into being.

Additionally, the Swallow Group of hotels, who had launched a legal challenge to the legislation, formally abandoned their attempt on 13 June 2006, after being advised that it would not succeed.

[citation needed] ASH Scotland was one of the main campaigners for smoke-free legislation, and recognition of their role was confirmed when Maureen Moore (Chief Executive of ASH Scotland) received an OBE [citation needed] in June 2006 for services to healthcare.