The savings in the first year since the initiative took effect July 2001 is more than the $250 million in savings expected after several years by the State Office of the Legislative Analyst.

"They didn't think the savings would add up to this until the third or fourth year, but we've exceeded those expectations already," said Bill Zimmerman, who managed the ballot campaign for Proposition 36.

According to the study by the Integrated Substance Abuse Programs at UCLA, 69 percent of the 53,697 eligible drug offenders chose to receive treatment.

Of those, 86 percent received outpatient drug-free programs, while 10 percent were placed in a long-term residential program.

Dr. Douglas Longshore, principal investigator for the study, said that future research would determine the effectiveness of the treatment.

"It's very hard to see how that's going to play out," Longshore said. "The probability of repeat offenders could affect the money-saving quality of Proposition 36 in the future."

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