Washington, Dec 15 (ANI): A new federal study has found that American teenagers are cutting down on cigarettes only to smoke pot more.

According to the study released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the acceptance of pot has increased among teens as more states are taking steps to legalise medical marijuana.

The University of Michigan carried out the survey titled "Monitoring the Future" for which 47,097 students in the eighth, 10th and 12th grades were queried.

Almost one-fifth of seniors (20.6percent) said they used marijuana last month, an increase of 18.3percent in 2006. Pot smoking by high school sophomores surged from 13.8percent a year ago to 15.9percent this year, reports The Washington Times.loyd Johnston, lead researcher, said: "So far, we have not seen any dramatic rise in marijuana use, but the upward trending of the past two or three years stands in stark contrast to the steady decline that preceded it for nearly a decade.

"Not only is use rising, but a key belief about the degree of risk associated with marijuana use has been in decline among young people even longer, and the degree to which teens disapprove of use of the drug has recently begun to decline...Changes in these beliefs and attitudes are often very influential in driving changes in use."

The good news, however, was that the use of Methamphetamine, booze sprees and cigarette smoking had come down. (ANI)