Contingencies Health Care Cost Recovery Actions (Details) (Liggett [Member])	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012 cases
Health Care Cost Recovery Actions [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Cases pending	1
Engle Progeny Cases [Member]
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Cases pending	5,727
Engle progeny cases	39

The total amount of pending claims pertaining to a loss contingency accrual as of the balance sheet date.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 5

-Paragraph 9, 10, 11, 12

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Name:	us-gaap_LossContingencyPendingClaimsNumber
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant