RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina Appeals Court upheld the state??s three-year-old indoor smoking ban, the Charlotte Observer reports. A lower court had sided with Pitt County private clubs and bars in a ruling that said the ban violated the U.S. Constitution??s equal protection clause.

The ban??s exemption of some private clubs triggered the lawsuit by some billiards club owners and bar owners. Attorneys for Don Liebes, who owns the Gate City Billiards Country Club, claimed that the ban infringes on Liebes??s rights because nonprofit private clubs are exempt but for-profit private clubs are not.

This means that the Veterans of Foreign Wars or Elks, Moose or other private lodges could smoke inside their buildings. Nonprofit country clubs could do likewise. But any for-profit private clubs, such as billiards or golf, has to forbid indoor smoking under the law.

Judge Linda Stephens, who wrote the unanimous decision, said that the state ban language outlined specific social club categories, delineating exactly in which clubs indoor smoking would be forbidden. Stephens wrote that it was easy to differentiate between private racquet, golf and yachting clubs, and restaurants and bars.