Four states - Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska -have legalized the retail sale of marijuana. One of the main reasons cited by each state for legalizing pot is the tax revenue generated by marijuana sales.

Retail marijuana sales started in Colorado 2014, bringing in $56 million the first year and $113 million in 2015. It's estimated tax revenue this year will top $140 million. Washington state, which began retail sales in 2014, brought in $76.9 million last year; Oregon, which has had legalized sales for about a year, has projected its tax revenues from marijuana at almost $60 million.

Alaska - which will start legalized pot sales later this year - expects to see a tax revenue boost of about $19.2 million a year.

That type of money could be enticing to states constantly on the lookout for additional revenues.

And how much would that revenue be? 24/7 Wall Street used numbers from the Tax Foundation to determine how much tax revenue would be generated by legalized marijuana sales in each state. The figures were determined by looking at per capita pot sales in Colorado and Washington to get revenue estimates then assessing a hypothetical tax of 25 percent.

In Alabama, legalized marijuana sales would generate about $134 million in tax revenue each year, according to the analysis. That's the 27th highest amount of revenue from among all the state projections, despite Alabama's marijuana use rate of 5.6 percent, the fifth lowest in the nation.

Don't go spending that pot money just yet, however.

Another list by 24/7 WallStreet ranks Alabama as the state least likely to legalize retail marijuana sales.

Welcome to Thursday's Wake Up Call. Let's see what's going on:

Teacher placed on leave for stomping flag

A North Carolina high school teacher has been placed on leave after stepping on an American flag during a history lesson on the First Amendment.

Lee Francis, a teacher at Massey Hill Classical High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, said the lesson was about the Supreme Court ruling that declared flag burning protected free speech. Francis maintains he only tapped the flag with his foot in an effort to demonstrate that some actions were covered under the same ruling.

Some students walked out of the lesson and the school superintendent placed Francis on leave. A meeting on the incident is scheduled for today.

Attorney for the brother of JonBenet Ramsey says he'll sue CBS

An attorney for the brother of JonBenet Ramsey said he will sue CBS over a documentary that claims Burke Ramsey killed the 6-year-old beauty queen in 1996.

CBS aired the two-part series "The Case of JonBenet Ramsey," Sunday and Monday nights. The documentary pointed the finger at Burke Ramsey for the girl's unsolved murder. Ramsey's attorney said the program was filled with "false accusations" and "fraud."

CBS said it stands by its reports.

Obama's half- brother is backing Trump

If Malik Obama, the half-brother of President Barack Obama, could vote in the U.S., he would cast his ballot for Republican Donald Trump, he said.

Malik Obama, who lives in Kogelo, Kenya, said he thinks Trump is a "humble and honest guy."

"He is a guy who can help people. It's an opportunity for Americans to give Trump a chance to become president," he said, adding he "didn't like (Hillary) Clinton.

"She is dishonest and a liar. She keeps on lying about emails every time."

Malik Obama is the son of Barack Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr. The president's half-sister also lives in the village.

Smoking permanently scars DNA

Smoking can scar a person's DNA with some of the damage lasting a lifetime, according to a new study.

The study of 16,000 people found some- but not all - of the disease-causing genetic impact left by smoking diminishes after five years. The impact can include altering DNA to inactivate a gene or change how it functions, often resulting in cancer or other diseases.

More than 7,000 genes - about a third of all those known to humans - can be affected by smoking, the study found.

Until tomorrow.