While the movement to legalize marijuana continues to gain momentum and shift public opinion in favor of the drug, a new study links pot to a growing number of fatal traffic accidents.

According to researchers at Columbia University, toxicology reports revealed that marijuana contributed to 12 percent of the nearly 24,000 driving fatalities in 2010. That percent has more than tripled in a decade, reports USA Today.

In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found drugged driving is more popular among younger motorists, reports MSN. A 2010 survey shows that one in eight high school seniors admitted to drive after smoking marijuana. Meanwhile, federal data shows that almost half of drivers fatally injured in a crash who tested positive for marijuana were younger than 25 years old. Furthermore, mearly a quarter of drivers killed in drug-related car crashes were younger than 25.

The NHTSA study also found that 4 percent of drivers were high during daytime hours, while over 6 percent said they were high at night. The rate of marijuana use more than doubled on weekends.

Colorado, which legalized the use of recreational pot in 2013, has seen an increase in driving fatalities in which marijuana alone was involved, according to Insurance.com. The trend started back in 2009, once medical marijuana dispensaries were legalized in the state.

NHTSA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse are currently wrapping up a three-year, half-million-dollar cooperative study to determine how driving performance is impacted by inhaled marijuana. The study examines participants who are given low dose of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, a high dose and a placebo. Then researchers assess decision-making, motor control, risk-taking behavior and divided-attention.

The study is being performed using what NHTSA has called "the world's most advanced driving simulator," said the University of Iowa's National Advanced Driving Simulator, which previously studied the effects of alcohol on driving.