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Contingencies (Schedule Of Pending Cases) (Details) | Apr. 21, 2014 cases | Apr. 22, 2013 cases | Apr. 20, 2015
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Pending Litigation [Member] | Individual Smoking And Health Cases [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending | 70 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_IndividualSmokingAndHealthCasesMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember | [1] | 71 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_IndividualSmokingAndHealthCasesMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember | [1] |  |
Pending Litigation [Member] | Smoking And Health Class Actions And Aggregated Claims Litigation [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending | 6 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_SmokingAndHealthClassActionsAndAggregatedClaimsLitigationMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember | [2] | 6 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_SmokingAndHealthClassActionsAndAggregatedClaimsLitigationMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember | [2] |  |
Pending Litigation [Member] | Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending | 1 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_HealthCareCostRecoveryActionsMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember | [3] | 1 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_HealthCareCostRecoveryActionsMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember | [3] |  |
Pending Litigation [Member] | Lights Ultra Lights Class Actions [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending | 15 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_LightsUltraLightsClassActionsMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember |  | 15 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_LightsUltraLightsClassActionsMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember |  |  |
Subsequent Event [Member] | Individual Smoking And Health Cases [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending |  |  |  |  | 2 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = mo_IndividualSmokingAndHealthCasesMember / us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis = us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember |
Subsequent Event [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member] | Individual Smoking And Health Cases [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending |  |  |  |  | 64 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_IndividualSmokingAndHealthCasesMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember / us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis = us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember | [1]
Subsequent Event [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member] | Smoking And Health Class Actions And Aggregated Claims Litigation [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending |  |  |  |  | 5 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_SmokingAndHealthClassActionsAndAggregatedClaimsLitigationMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember / us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis = us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember | [2]
Subsequent Event [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member] | Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending |  |  |  |  | 1 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_HealthCareCostRecoveryActionsMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember / us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis = us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember | [3]
Subsequent Event [Member] | Pending Litigation [Member] | Lights Ultra Lights Class Actions [Member] |  |  |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of Cases Pending |  |  |  |  | 12 us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber / us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis = mo_LightsUltraLightsClassActionsMember / us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis = us-gaap_PendingLitigationMember / us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis = us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember |
[1] | Does not include 2,546 cases brought by flight attendants seeking compensatory damages for personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (“ETS”). The flight attendants allege that they are members of an ETS smoking and health class action in Florida, which was settled in 1997 (Broin). The terms of the court-approved settlement in that case allow class members to file individual lawsuits seeking compensatory damages, but prohibit them from seeking punitive damages. Also, does not include individual smoking and health cases brought by or on behalf of plaintiffs in Florida state and federal courts following the decertification of the Engle case (discussed below in Smoking and Health Litigation - Engle Class Action).
[2] | ncludes as one case the 600 civil actions (of which 346 were actions against PM USA) that were to be tried in a single proceeding in West Virginia (In re: Tobacco Litigation). The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled that the United States Constitution did not preclude a trial in two phases in this case. Issues related to defendants’ conduct and whether punitive damages are permissible were tried in the first phase. Trial in the first phase of this case began in April 2013. In May 2013, the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendants on the claims for design defect, negligence, failure to warn, breach of warranty, and concealment and declined to find that the defendants’ conduct warranted punitive damages. Plaintiffs prevailed on their claim that ventilated filter cigarettes should have included use instructions for the period 1964 - 1969. The second phase, if any, will consist of individual trials to determine liability and compensatory damages on that claim only. In August 2013, the trial court denied all post-trial motions. The trial court entered final judgment in October 2013 and, in November 2013, plaintiffs filed their notice of appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. In November 2014, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the final judgment. Plaintiffs filed a petition for rehearing with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, which the court denied on January 8, 2015. On April 3, 2015, plaintiffs filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.
[3] | See Health Care Cost Recovery Litigation - Federal Government’s Lawsuit below.

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- Definition Number of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 + Details
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