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Do as he says, not as he does -- at least that was Lamar Odom's advice to a 7-year-old boy Saturday night ... when he warned him about the dangers of drug abuse.
Odom was at a birthday party at Tokyo Delves in North Hollywood -- along with about 20 people -- when the young boy named Elijah approached Odom to ask for a photo.
Elijah's mother tells us, Odom initially turned the kid down, offering to shake Elijah's hand instead and have a brief conversation ... which they did.
The mom says Lamar pontificated about the merits of education and staying in school -- and even encouraged Elijah (who is tall for his age) to play basketball -- but the ironic twist, Lamar finished the conversation by telling him, "Don't do drugs."
He then offered to take the above photo, despite previously refusing.
And this is cool -- sources in the restaurant say Lamar covered the tab for the birthday party (totaling more than $1,000) and left a $200 tip.
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