PORTLAND, Ore. -- A jury ordered Philip Morris to pay $150 million in punitive damages Friday in a lawsuit that contended low-tar cigarettes are as dangerous as regular ones.

The jury found that Philip Morris had falsely represented that low-tar cigarettes are healthier, the first verdict in the nation to make that finding. The tobacco company said it would appeal.

The jury also awarded $168,000 in compensatory damages to the estate of Michele Schwarz of Salem, who died of lung cancer at age 53 in 1999 after smoking low-tar Merit cigarettes.

Schwarz had switched from a regular filtered cigarette because she believed the low-tar version would be better for her health, said the attorney for her estate, Lawrence Wobbrock.

Wobbrock contended in court that Philip Morris marketed the cigarettes as having fewer health risks.

But James L. Dumas, one of the company's attorneys, said Philip Morris did not market Merits as healthier than regular filtered cigarettes. He said the company advertises them as milder, or feeling less harsh.

Wobbrock said smokers were getting the same amount of tar by taking more puffs on their cigarettes and smoking them closer to the butt.