XML 134 R116.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.8.0.1

Contingencies (Health Care Cost Recovery Litigation Narrative) (Details) | 1 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended
--- | --- | ---
Nov. 30, 1998 USD ($) state | Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) case | Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) case | Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) case
Cost of Sales [Member] |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |
Loss Contingency, State Settlement Agreements |  | $ 4,500,000,000 | $ 4,600,000,000 | $ 4,500,000,000
Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member] |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |
Number of cases pending | case |  | 1 | 1 | 1
Number of states with settled litigation | state | 46 |  |  |
State Settlement Agreements annual payments | $ 9,400,000,000 |  |  |
State settlement agreements attorney fees annual cap | $ 500,000,000 |  |  |
Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member] | Canada [Member] | Threatened Litigation [Member] |  |  |  |
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |
Number of cases pending | case |  | 10 |  |

X
- Definition Litigation Settlement, Annual Legal Fees Payable, Maximum + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | mo_LitigationSettlementAnnualLegalFeesPayableMaximum
Namespace Prefix: | mo_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Litigation Settlement, Annual Payment Amount + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | mo_LitigationSettlementAnnualPaymentAmount
Namespace Prefix: | mo_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Loss Contingency, Number of States with Settled Litigation + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | mo_LossContingencyNumberofStateswithSettledLitigation
Namespace Prefix: | mo_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Loss Contingency, State Settlement Agreements + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | mo_LossContingencyStateSettlementAgreements
Namespace Prefix: | mo_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LossContingenciesLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- 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=82911808&loc=d3e14435-108349 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_IncomeStatementLocationAxis=us-gaap_CostOfSalesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_LitigationCaseAxis=mo_HealthCareCostRecoveryActionsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=country_CA
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_LitigationStatusAxis=us-gaap_ThreatenedLitigationMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |