Lamar Odom's Inner Circle Worried He's in Danger Zone with Booze

Lamar Odom thinks he can drink whenever he wants -- months after his near-death experience -- and the people closest to him believe he's heading down a dark path again.

Sources close to LO say he believes he can "casually drink" without any consequences, which is why he hit up an Irish pub on Saturday night. As we reported ... he downed 3 Remy Martins -- the same liquor he was drinking in the Nevada brothel the weekend he nearly died.

We're told Odom's boozing is creating tension between him and Khloe Kardashian. Although she's publicly vowed to help him recover, she disagrees with his choice to start drinking. We're told Lamar got up on Sunday morning for church just to prove he could function after boozing.

As one source put it, "We all are really, really sad he's decided to do this." And after we posted the pics ... Khloe seemed to address it, tweeting she feels "helpless."