The U.S. government has taken the first official step in appealing a one-day sentence given to Oakland medical marijuana advocate Edward Rosenthal for three marijuana cultivation counts.

Lawyers from the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco, acting on behalf of the U.S. government, filed a notice of appeal with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on July 3.

Rosenthal, 58, a medical marijuana author and activist, was given the one-day penalty by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on June 4. Since Rosenthal had already spent a day in jail when he was arrested last year, he was able to walk free.

Prosecutors had asked for a six and one-half year sentence for Rosenthal's conviction on three counts of conspiring to grow marijuana, growing more than 100 plants, and maintaining premises for cultivation at an Oakland warehouse.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Jacobs said the government's brief outlining its appeal arguments won't be filed "for months" and said he did not know when the court will hear the case. The appeals court will set a briefing schedule at a later date, he said.

Jacobs declined to comment on the content of the appeal.

Rosenthal said from his home in Oakland Monday, "This is proof that the government and the prosecutor want to stop people from getting their medicine."

Rosenthal also said he thinks the appeal is a waste of taxpayers' money.

"If they have all that money, why don't they build some schools?" he asked.

Rosenthal claimed he was growing starter plants to help patients and that he believed his actions were legal under California's 1996 medical marijuana law. But because federal law doesn't recognize the state law, he was not allowed to make that argument at trial.

Although Breyer prohibited any mention of the California law during the trial, the judge said at the sentencing that he considered the case "extraordinary and unique" because Rosenthal sincerely believed his activity was shielded from prosecution as a result of being approved by the Oakland City Council.