It's an oversimplification. The idea is that laser beams are extremely collimated, with divergences well under 1 degree in many cases, so over 200 meters the beam might only expand a tiny amount. But not to worry, the beam still spreads. Calculate the beam spot size of a laser, where the area increases as the square of the distance. Meanwhile, intensity is the inverse of the area. At sufficiently long distances, this will become apparent.