A proposal to relax Colorado's 21/2-year-old indoor smoking ban was snuffed out Thursday even before it had a chance to be debated.

Rep. Don Marostica, R-Loveland, pulled his bill just before it was set to be read across the desk and become official, saying there was too much confusion in it about where people could smoke.

He will bring it back next year as a narrow effort to permit indoor smoking in casinos and racetracks.

Marostica told the Rocky Mountain News last month that he was planning a bill that would classify bars, restaurants, racetracks and portions of casinos as "cigar bars" if they met certain tobacco sales criteria. Cigar bars are the only indoor areas exempted from the smoking ban currently.

But Marostica said Thursday that he had never intended for all restaurants to be exempted, just those small taverns that might happen to serve food as well.

After finding that there was no difference between the beverage licenses of restaurants and taverns selling food, however, he yanked the bill and said he will cut that issue out of future proposals.

"I thought as long as taverns serve food, I'm not going to include them," Marostica said. "Not very many of my bills get killed, so I wanted to make sure it was right."

Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado and the Colorado Restaurant Association had lobbied potential bill sponsors to try to halt its introduction for weeks.

Marostica said his decision had nothing to do with outside pressure.

Still, Smoke-Free Gaming chairwoman Stephanie Steinberg cheered the decision to pull the bill, saying that keeping smoke out of restaurants and bars will mean a healthier work force - and one less fierce debate at the Capitol.

"It's a very contentious issue," Steinberg said. "And it's put some legislators in a position they don't want to be in."

Marostica said he still envisions the legalization of cigar-smoking lounges in casinos, like those that are found in Las Vegas. He continued to say that he sees this as a business issue rather than a health issue.