The relevance of the problem. The development of out-of-hospital emergency addiction care at the pre-hospital stage is currently one of the priority areas in modern Russian psychiatry and addiction medicine. Objective. To ensure accessible and timely provision of emergency addiction care by psychiatrist addiction specialists to addiction patients at the pre-hospital stage, including preliminary rapid chemical-toxicological diagnostics using rapid tests and breathalyzers. Materials and Methods. The study used data from a sociological survey (questionnaire) of patients under dispensary observation at branches of the Drug Dispensaries of the State Budgetary Healthcare Institution “Moscow Research and Practical Centre for Addiction Medicine of the Moscow City Health Department”, as well as current regulatory and legal acts. Statistical and analytical methods were applied in the study. Research results. Both linear emergency teams and psychiatric teams, which do not include psychiatrist addiction specialists, are currently dispatched to addiction patients. When diagnosing patients, doctors from linear teams and psychiatrists do not perform on-site rapid laboratory diagnostics (rapid tests and breathalyzers). Consequently, the diagnosis of addiction disorders is based solely on clinical assessment and is not supported by preliminary chemical toxicological examinations. Conclusions. To improve the effectiveness of specialized emergency addiction care for the population, there is an urgent need to establish out-of-hospital emergency addiction response teams in Moscow’s addiction medicine system, staffed with psychiatrist addiction specialists.