Arturo Santiago
Reporting

(CBS4/AP) BRIGHTON, Colo. The status of the statewide smoking ban is unclear after an Adams County district judge declared the law unconstitutional. One legal expert told CBS4 the ruling applies only in Adams County, although other courts can use it as guidance.

District Judge Robert Doyle said the ban is unconstitutional because it exempts cigar bars. Attorneys for the Oasis bar in Adams County challenged the law in court after the business was cited for allowing people smoke inside.

"There's really no reason to make a differentiation between a smoking bar, a regular bar, a smoking lounge and cigar bars," said Michael Martin, the lawyer for Oasis.

Adams County District Attorney Don Quick plans to appeal the ruling. Quick said the Colorado Supreme Court may have to weigh in because of this ruling and others.

Last year, a federal judge said the Legislature had the right to decide where smoking could be prohibited. But a judge in Durango ruled that a bar owner was exempt from the law because he sold enough tobacco products to qualify for an exemption.

Democratic state Sen. Betty Boyd of Lakewood introduced a bill Wednesday to eliminate the cigar bar exemption. That would leave Denver International Airport's smoking lounges as the only public place in Colorado where smoking is allowed.