(CNN) -- Speaking Saturday at the Summit of the Americas, President Barack Obama said it is reasonable to debate alternatives in the war on drugs, but insisted legalizing drugs wasn't a valid option in the United States. Obama voiced his view in his first public remarks at the hemispheric event during a meeting of business leaders, where he was part of a panel alongside Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. The possibility of drug legalization has gained traction in Central America, which is being squeezed between suppliers to the south and consumers to the north. Yet the idea goes against decades of the prohibitionist policy backed by the United States, which is largely followed and enforced in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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NEW: Colombia's president says it is unthinkable if Cuba isn't at the next summit
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NEW: Santos adds the summit can be a "starting point" for talks on illicit drugs
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Obama says debate is fine, but insists legalization isn't an option in the U.S.
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The United States wants strong relations with Latin America, Obama says
@placeholder noted Saturday that people in his native Colombia, too, have called for different ways to approach illicit drugs.
Rousseff spoke of a need for a "virtuous relationship" based on respect and equality among economies, while @placeholder said he welcomed a "change of mentality in relations between north and south."